Something Better
by Pridakal
Summary: You can't run away from the past, so why not run to it? All I wanted was a little happiness, and I got sent to hell instead. What can I do now but move on? Alternate World Story. M for language. (First book in a long story)
1. I will Never leave a Fallen Comrade

**I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Something Better

 **Prologue**

"Father! Father! Look here, it's happening," a young boy shouted throughout the house as he pointed to his prized possession at the time. The child looked to be about 10 years old of Japanese descent wearing spectacles in assistance of his eyesight. He seemed to be fairly ecstatic of his observation; perhaps too ecstatic for a child of his age, but to him, it seemed like something magical was happening. He saw the world changing right before his eyes

"Yes, son, I'm coming. Just give me a minute please?" An older man had responded to the child. The father had long, but neat black hair and hands, his more prominent feature, which were rough, hard hands that showed his work ethic to provide for his family. As soon as he arrived to the scene, the young lad jumped up and down at his entrance and turned back around to observe his sight once again: a small plant in a garden pot full of soil. But the real prize was the silk sac clinging to the stalk of the plant: a cocoon wiggling about, ready to hatch the next stage of a particular insect's life. The father smiled looking at his son's little collection.

"Father, he's about to hatch! Just like you said it would!"

"Yes, I can see it. Are you excited?" the older man asked his son with genuine intrigue.

"Yeah I can't wait! It's just like the creatures you told me about in the legend," the boy said with his eyes glued to the cocoon. The older man came closer and placed a hand on his boy's shoulder as he closely inspected the wiggling sac of silk. His mind then went back to his days of youth. Back to the days when he ventured out into the world where this event happened around every corner.

In the background, the small television set reported a story on the fall of a city by the name of Saigon, but that wasn't important to the child, and it was too upsetting for the father who had had enough conflict in his life. He just wanted to forget the bad and focus on the good.

Back to the cocoon, both saw a crack appear on the upper ridge of the lime-green shell – earning an even more surprised look from the boy. The crack then grew in length several millimeters in both directions before starting to split, revealing a set of compressed, yellow and black wings. Slowly, but surely, the wings began to unfold as a black, furry body escaped its confines of several weeks. It looked… no, it _was_ frail; after all, living in a confined space such as a cocoon would tend to leave any living organism with weak muscles. But with every passing second, the little butterfly regained some of its former strength if not greater strength. Soon, it was standing on all six of its legs on the pod it hatched from gently moving its wings further then closer from and to each other respectively.

The child watched this scene with awe and wonder, not helping to think about the stories his father had told him: the stories with the beasts and creatures with unthinkable power. This little butterfly was almost an exact representation to those creatures, at least in what its fragile life had just accomplished.

"Metamorphosis…" his father had said under his breath, but just loud enough to be heard.

"What is that word mean again father," the boy asked looking up to the older, more experienced man.

The man gave a small, happy smile to his son and explained, "Metamorphosis is a change that happens in an organism's life that make better, or more adaptable to the challenges of life. Think of it as a sort of… evolution, if you will, to become stronger. Oh look!" his father pointed out to his son. Both had now returned their attention to the butterfly that was now at the top of the miniscule plant they had.

The butterfly stood there almost proudly, like it had accomplished a major feat. But it needed something more. It needed more room; it needed more freedom. It needed to fly.

In preparation for this, the beautiful insect began flapping its wings slowly and gently, but with increasing speed at the same time.

"Son," the father spoke noticing this.

"Yes father?" the son replied.

"I think it's trying to fly away now," the father said with a slightly somber tone. The boy's happy and eager attitude then changed to that of small sadness. This butterfly was his friend. It had grown up in his care as a caterpillar, and now it is already time for it to leave. He sighed knowing with prior knowledge that this was the lifestyle of the butterfly and the boy couldn't keep it from that, he knew better.

"I'll miss him," he muttered. His father gave a sad, but knowing, smile to him.

"I know son. Just like I'll miss you one day when you're gone and out to explore what this… _new_ world has to offer," the father reassured the boy. In all of his honesty, he despised the world he lived in now. He wishes he could have gone back to his younger days to avoid all the conflict and wretchedness that now infected the world with anger, hate, and devastation. He didn't want his son to go into a world like this; however, he knew that he had to let go one day, just like his son would have to let go of the butterfly whose wings were flapping faster and faster with each passing moment.

Without any warning, even to the father's surprise, the insect began to hover off of the plant and fly around the room. It explored every part of the kitchen they were in and eventually stopped and landed on the boy's nose, earning a child's laugh from him. He then moved his hand towards his face and tried to persuade the butterfly to take short residence on his palm before they moved outside. It had complied, but turned around and faced the human, looking at him. The child smiled and began walking to his front door with his father shortly behind. He opened the door to reveal a quite sunny day, causing him to shield his eyes with his free hand for a moment of adjustment.

After taking a few steps outside, the boy looked down at his friend, who was still staring back at him, and began to speak.

"Well, friend, I hate to admit it, but… it's time for you go on and live a normal life. I really liked spending these past times with you, and I hope you know that even when you're gone, I'll never forget you." The butterfly just stood there and listened to the young human's words. It then turned around and looked to the outside world: its new home in a few short moments. That was when the boy decided to get closer and whisper something to the bug so his father wouldn't hear. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to make a world like my dad's stories one day, and you're going to be one of the first creatures I put in it. How does that sound?" As if answering the question, the butterfly hovered off of the boy's hand and began to circle around his head.

"Hahaha, I thought you'd like it," the child said to it before it started to fly away in its beautiful dance. He then waved to it saying a few parting words, "Goodbye, butterfly! Be free! I'll miss you a lot!" With that, the butterfly flew further and further away. So far that it eventually became out of sight to the boy and his father. The younger human then looked down in sadness, but not without a small smile on his face.

"He'll live a good life, son. I know it," the father said as he came up to his son and placed a hand on his head, ruffling his hair. For as young as he was, he was learning quite fast about responsibility. Something that is becoming rarer and rarer nowadays in all parts of the world. He was proud of his son and wouldn't change anything in his past if he knew he wouldn't end up the same way. He loved his son: his little Satoshi.

* * *

 **Intro**

So you wanna know what happened?

Fine, I guess I could tell the lot of you. Though I need to warn you: this isn't much of a fairy tale. It doesn't end in happiness. To be completely honest, it can't be told with happiness for there was solemn a time I had ever felt joy or anything similar since even before I arrived here in this world.

…

I take that back. There were a couple times I felt happy and at peace, but not long after those times did everything go haywire.

…

Why am I so negative? Despair. As I said, the moment I appeared here was the mark of both my rise and downfall. Though people were more knowledgeable of the latter in my case.

…

They're all scum. Granted, if you speak with the right person, I'm sure they could tell you the truth about me. The truth, not their opinion.

…

The truth is that I saved millions of lives, but also killed thousands.

…

Your surprise doesn't shock me. Everyone would rather paint a target on me than find a way to reward me.

…

I find your shock amusing. You have an answer as to why you want to do what you do, but you can't answer me why people have ambition. I'm sure you don't understand, but in time I'm also sure you will.

…

Why, everyone is evil. No good human is ever born perfect in a moral sense. It is the events around them that make them who they are. This guy right here wouldn't be known as the evilest man in history had he been surrounded by other people and events. The same also applies to me in a similar yet different sense.

…

Alright, alright I'll get on with the story. I could say it all started when I was five years old, but I'll save those details for when they come back to me in the story. Now where it _really_ all began was April 28, 2020.

On that day of my rebirth, the United States Department of Defense labeled me as a high-valued target for committing a major felony. It all started when I turned on the news to see how much further into hell we've spiraled ourselves into now. But what I saw caused me to lose my breath for a few seconds. The President's daughter had been slaughtered. Not murdered: slaughtered. I was pretty surprised to see the in depth footage of the crime scene on the national television station. Even with my experience in my current occupation at the time was I still shocked to see blood smeared on the walls and fragments of flesh splattered onto the floor. What almost made it worse is that my former fiancé was there in our new living room to witness the sight with me. I could remember her clinging to me, almost scared for her life of what this country would turn into now. But what happened next was something I couldn't forget in 100 lifetimes.

A picture came up on the TV screen: a possible suspect on whoever did this. At the same time, we heard crashes in every window and door throughout the house as armed National Guardsmen came in aiming their weapons at my forehead. But I was more focused on the television instead. At first, I believed that there was just a glint from the sun just to make my reflection fit perfectly on that spot. But when suspicion had failed me, I realized that there had to be some mistake. It couldn't have been me. I mean, sure I didn't like him or his policies, but I wouldn't go as far as to slaughter his daughter. Yet there I was.

My wife pushed away from me in anger, fear, and confusion. I saw the hurt in her eyes and pleaded her to understand that I had not done it. But I guess that a picture on the media was all the whore needed to stop loving me. And that was when my emotions turned dark, almost invisible, on me. I left them in that rough van-ride all the way to some top secret federal prison. There I was interrogated thoroughly through whatever means necessary so the government could get some damned answers.

For some reason, however, I still felt hope. I just had a few rays to keep me going, to keep me alive so I could prove that this bullshit wasn't my doing. Yet I was failed again. Because of the urgency of my case, my trial had been sped up to an immediate date. Unfortunately for me, 3 days was not enough time for me to even prove my own innocence. On May 6th, 2015, I was pronounced guilty of murder in the first degree and aggravated assault and charged with the death penalty.

That was when I had lost hope, all hope. I gave up, became reserved. Not a single soul heard me speak, not even the prison guards that would escort met to my death bed. It would cost me a couple beatings here and there, but what did that matter? I didn't care anymore. Not even my own fiancé cared for me.

Perhaps you can say that things lightened up a little after my trial. At the same time, you can say things became more tense. During my escorted transport, some jackass decided assassinate the drivers of the convoy and hijack the van I was in. The guards' interests were finally peaked when they felt a shift in the ride. I always knew prison guards were stupid, but to not become suspicious of gunshots outside was completely idiotic.

As soon as they tapped on the metal sheet separating driver from passenger, the window opened and their faces were met with two 9 millimeters each. I simply looked at them indifferently before shaking my head and gazing upon the window. From my vantage point, I could only see a dead body in the passenger seat. I guess it made sense to me at the time that if I so much as took a glance at the new driver, I would be met with the same fate. I at least wanted to see who would kill me so I decided to wait until the driver opened the door so I could look into his eyes and then accept death.

The van finally stopped in an unknown location and I was woken from a sort of in and out slumber. When the back doors had opened, I actually felt genuine relief. I came face to face with my brother, Matthew, in some unknown forest in God knows what state now. After helping me out of the van, he asked me if I was alright. I thought of all the witty and smartass remarks I could say to him so he could feel like a dumbass for asking in my current state. But he saved me so I figured, "eh what the hell, I guess we're even." I told him I was fine and was immediately met with a fist to the face, dazing me for only a moment. But when I regained myself, the next thing I could observe was him pinning my neck to a tree with his hand while the other forced the barrel of a glock between my eyes.

After asking me a few heartfelt times if I really did it, and after me repeatedly saying no, he finally released me, but not before giving me a brotherly hug. I guess I could understand that, after all, I hadn't seen the asshole in about a year or two so it fit for the time.

What were we before? I was a United States Army Ranger. I was a future husband, a future father. I at least had half of a life. My brother was a couple of years older than me and was Green Beret whom I rarely heard about after he was inducted. Our father had been murdered, when I was only 5, in an 'accident' along thousands of other innocent Americans. It was our inspiration and motivation to join the occupation we did. We wanted to avenge his death. Although I had successfully continued to do so ever since I enlisted, I still had a major flaw that may or may not have altered my way of thinking for many situations, but that wasn't important at the time.

What were we then? We were escaped convicts. We were the governments most wanted men in hot pursuit. We had a home, and now it was taken from us. We were on the run to a small town in Northeast Washington State that Matthew said we could trust. I was reluctant, but unfortunately for me, I didn't have the luxury of choice in the situation. So here we are on our way to this forsaken town as the governments most wanted criminals. Wasn't the life of a human just great?

I guess then my outlook on life had been quite bleak; hell it probably still is now. But the thing about this was that it changed my life in so many ways. I was a young man then, and the events in my life you will soon see have altered my perspectives and even my physical self. I had a shit past and a less shitty present, but through all of that I still held on the vigilance to find something better, something newer.

The terrible truth was that what I stepped into on that day dragged me into something darker, much darker, than any of you could hope to imagine.

My name is Michael Blake, and this is my story. The story of how the world can turn a man into a villain.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: I Will Never Leave a Fallen Comrade**

The silent, starry night was blissful as I gazed upon lonely moon – one of my only friends. It was something I could relate to; it was something I felt had been with me my entire life. It had been with me for all of my ups and my more prevalent downs. Looking at the moon hold its throne among the countless constellations, I could feel how, although mighty, it didn't belong in their crowd. And to this observation is where I feel the same. I didn't belong. To the question of "where do I belong," I answer with nothing. There is perhaps no place on this great planet that I belong both physically and socially.

For the majority of my life, I had sought to separate myself from the rest of mankind in terms of work ethic. I wanted to outwork my neighbor and my neighbor's neighbor. Why? Because I thought… no, I believed that people only did the bare minimum as an acceptable means to live through life. My father had died at the hands of people who, by only doing the bare minimum, allowed thousands of humans to die from the lack of courage. My father had once told me to always work hard and that one day I will reap what I sow. I took that as his dying wish to me and held on to that mentality for the rest of my adolescence.

Though I had matured, I had yet to drop my innocent belief that everything told to me would work out to near perfection in a systematic order. I believed that the world owed me everything for the things I had done for it – be it voluntarily or involuntary.

I was a damned fool to believe that.

It wasn't until only a couple days ago that I started to reflect on all the times in my life that someone or my lack of better knowledge had screwed me over. None of them are worth that much for me to dwell on, but even a single snowflake may cause an avalanche.

Nonetheless, regardless of what happened in the past, it doesn't change the fact I'm still in my current position. About a week ago, the beginning of December, my brother, Matthew, and I had reached the Eastern limit of Montana, heading west in hopes of making it to Washington by Christmas. We've been traveling for months only resting in the shadows of the day so we can move more freely and quickly at night. Though sometimes we would hit a rut and have to lay low for a while in order to escape the attention of the authorities.

Ever since my escape, however, domestic security had increased severely with myself as their main target. We've had few allies along the way that helped out, but soon were caught after we continued on our way. I still feel guilty looking at the soil in my hand thinking about them. But we had to move on; sympathy won't make us innocent.

"Lovely night isn't it?" My brother asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Better than most," I responded, "at least I can finally see the damn sky."

"Light pollution's a beautiful thing," he said.

"Out in the field? I think not. I prefer noise and light discipline. Something you should re-familiarize yourself with 'Green Beret,'" I replied with the slightest of smirks on my face.

My brother sighed, "Look, Michael, if this is about me punching you in the face after so valiantly rescuing you, like I said before: I'm sorry. I just had to make sure…"

"Make sure of what? That I didn't rip her limb from limb?" I scoffed

"Well aren't you blunt about it? Are you proud of your 'actions?'" He taunted, trying my patience.

"Well maybe if they didn't frame me for something I didn't do, I might feel some sympathy for her," I said, slightly peeved. He chuckled.

"I'm sorry little brother, I didn't mean to annoy you. You know I know your innocent. If you weren't, I'd probably sneak into prison just to smack you and then leave."

"Well don't I just feel all giddy inside after hearing that?" I deadpanned.

I looked back up at the night sky to return to my contemplation. Some of these nights I wished I could just join them. Be someone… something people could look up to in amazement and wonder… just like I do.

I never really wanted the lifestyle I had before all of this mess. I wanted to go out and explore, see the world a little. It's a dream I still had, but it's only that. Just a dream. It was something I knew I never could accomplish; especially with the way things are going now.

'Maybe,' I thought as a gazed upon a single star, 'maybe after this is all over… I could start over… be anonymous. I could finish my dream.'

"Come on," Matthew said, "Break time is over. I could see the sun coming up over the ridge," he pointed to what I assumed to be the East and could see a very faint glow coming from beyond the mountains. I sighed in reluctant agreement. Because of what people have done to me, I can no longer enjoy the only thing I ever wanted: peace.

(5 hours later)

We traveled quite far throughout the forested and mountainous terrain until we came upon Dillon, Montana. I actually wasn't too angry about the city as I had for previous ones. The reason behind this was because I had visited Dillon before. It was a distant memory, but definitely there. My father took us on a trip when I was only 3. I came to find out that it was the place of his birth and that we had gone in celebration of his birthday. But that was before his… murder.

I shuttered at the memory and discontinued my thoughts, rather focusing on where we were headed now: a small, abandoned warehouse my brother spotted just after passing the mountain. I found it quite funny that he brought the binos along with him. It just came naturally as something that was quite amusing to me, but I couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was just a funny sight: seeing him spot a building from so far away like he was hunting for game.

Though I had been trained to drive on in extreme weather conditions, I still shivered from the icy, winter breeze. Even with the three shirts and jacket, pants, and a pair off cold weather boots, the effects of December weather still made itself obviously present. What would anyone expect from a guy that lived most of if not all of his life in the dry heat of Arizona. I hated the cold with a passion, yet here I was thrown into northern frost.

Nonetheless, we had finally arrived to our destination with no trouble at all, or so I supposed. I checked my watch to see how long we had to rest before we moved out again at dusk.

0800

Not too bad.

"I'm gonna go out and get some food for the both of us. Want anything specific?" My brother always asked me this question every time day had come around. He always went out incognito to get supplies we would need for the next day or two. I tried going with him once, but he reasoned with me quite well, with the help of his right fist I might add, that my face was more well-known and hated by the American populace. I couldn't disagree; it definitely would be more detrimental should I reveal myself accidentally. I gave a small shake of my head, but then a thought came to me.

"Actually, could you get me another knife? Mine's been wearing out after getting kindling, or 'stabbing trees for practice,' as you liked to call it." My brother shook his head in amusement at his own doings, but nodded towards me in agreement. I gave him a firm handshake for good luck and he was off. I was left alone for about an hour or two to watch myself and stand guard. I only walked around or sat down and meditated in complete silence, listening to the sounds outside for any signs of nearing humans. When I did this, I always felt so peaceful with myself, it was my alternative to looking up at the stars. But sometimes, I would meditate on my past, on my emotions, and focus on them too much. This didn't lead to much, only the falling of my tears. But I didn't focus on them too much this time, just listening for sounds.

First there were the birds. To be exact on what species would be impossible to my knowledge, but their song was beautiful. It made me miss music. I chuckled listening to the grunts of deer passing by; that reminded me of the hunting I used to do. Sooner or later, my mind had drifted away; not sleep, but just mentally elsewhere. I began to see some images flow through my brain: memories of my youth. They looked like pieces to a puzzle I used to know. I stayed in this mental state for an amount of time that only God could have known.

About two hours later, I heard the sound of shoes hitting and sliding ever so slightly on the ground: a jogger? No it couldn't be. Joggers don't really run this fast: this was a sprint. Not only that, but a hasty sprint – not as slow as a run, but not as fast as a workout sprint. The door to the warehouse then flew open and I immediately stood up and moved to a fighting-ready position.

When my brother came through the door, he came panting heavily with a single black bowie knife with him. He threw it to me, catching it somewhat surprised, and he spoke the one word I needed to understand.

Run.

I found myself out of my own control as my body ran outside the back door as if natural instinct that had been practiced fluently. I saw buildings; I saw clouds; I saw the sky; I saw the grass; I saw the mountains; I saw the trees. I glimpsed at everything as my legs swiftly carried me to whatever destination seemed safe enough for me. I don't know where I was going or how much of me it would take to get there, but I knew one thing: I wasn't going to be captured again. I listened to Matthew's footsteps closely behind me. I was glad he was alright, but I dare not look behind me in fear of slowing down. I took a whiff of pine scent as I leaped into the thick tree line. I glanced to my right and noticed a trail used for hiking.

'Fuck that,' I thought. I would rather walk into a mother bear's den than take that obvious escape route. That thought then distracted me as I tripped on a root coming out of the ground. I landed face first at least 15 feet away from that knot if my perception served me correctly. But I immediately bear-crawled myself up into another running position and continued onward with my brother closely behind me.

'God I hope we're alright. Please…'

I prayed to myself as my breathing became heavier. But my eyes widened in hope.

About 50 meters in front of me, in the dark, dense forest I was in, there was a light emitted. I heard the sounds of rushing water getting louder just running towards the light. Perhaps there was a waterfall we could dive in… one we could lose the enemy in. My sprint became faster with every foot that passed.

20 meters. 10 meters. 5 meters.

I slowed my pace exponentially when I entered the clearing with a giant ray of hope emitting from my face… but I could have never been more wrong: not in the past, not anywhere in the future, but now. I looked around in a circle, my smile dissipating, as I looked at the soldiers surrounding my position. There were so many I couldn't take on alone. Maybe my brother could help me and we can both get out of this.

But I heard someone behind me. I turned around to see… not my brother, but someone else. I didn't know who he was, but he sure gave off a deathly vibe by just the way he looked.

The man looked to be in his 50s with the aging features on his slightly tanned face. He had white hair, with traces of black here and there, and had a small stubble growing his cheeks, neck, chin, and upper lip. He wore rounded shades that completely blocked anything from getting a glimpse of his eyes. He wore a black shirt and black pants with black tactical boots. Over all of this, he wore a black trench coat that I could just tell was hiding several weapons that I probably haven't even known yet.

The weirdest feature was his left hand. It was fitted into a metallic gauntlet of some sort.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? The Nation's most wanted man, surrounded by the nation's most powerful soldiers, led by me." He said with a rather raspy, but masculine, voice.

"I guess it took you long enough to finally catch up to me," I said faking a smirk. I didn't want to give him the upper hand by thinking I was afraid.

"I know what you're thinking, Michael, and you aren't clever. I can tell you are scared beyond doubt. It's obvious in the way your nerves… tingle," he said with an evil grin.

"Nerves? HA! What is this? A sci-fi movie?" I asked incredulous at his words.

"Ah, military technology is a fine thing. One day we can create a device that the entire world won't know about for decades, the next day it becomes mass-produced for war-fare. Do you want to see how far our technology has come along?" he asked. What was this guy even talking about?

But before I called his bluff, he seemed to call mine by reaching his gauntlet to point at me and with a simple raising of his wrist, I was lifted into the air. I was beyond words at this point; I was beyond belief. He was lifting me up with this small gadget in the palm of his hand.

"Ahh! Put me down you fucking freak!" I yelled.

"tsk tsk, no need to call each other names," he said, "even when you're outnumbered, and especially when you should be speaking for yourself. After all, that was the only thing your father ever thought of you," he taunted with his grin getting wider.

I felt so much blind fury at this point. He crossed the line by simply mentioning him. If he hadn't dropped me I would have passed out from all the blood and emotion running through the now thick veins in my head. I slowly got up, but not without the help of my fellow brothers in arms bringing me closer to whoever this bastard was until we were face to face.

"What the fuck are you?" I heard myself saying while struggling not to bite his nose off.

"Oh I apologize. With all the excitement in capturing you, I had almost forgotten to properly introduce myself," he said without moving more than a foot away. "My legal name is Anthony. But you won't live long enough to even remember or even care for it. When you get to hell, however, you can tell Lucifer that Morty sent ya to return to your father."

Hearing this caused all colors other than red to retreat from my vision. I gave a large and mucus-filled spit into his eye and chomped as hard as I could on the bridge of his nose, drawing blood. I could tell by the pure shrillness of his screech, I had got him pretty good, but a good bite wasn't enough to satisfy my revenge for his words; I held on with all dear might in hopes to rip off the cartilage.

However, before I almost finished ripping his nose off, I felt a sharp pain enter the right side of my neck, forcing me to let go. I reacted cringing away from the side I felt it on and turned my head in that direction to see one off his grunts holding a fully used syringe in his fingers' grasp.

"OW! You fucking animal!" Morty shouted, gaining my attention once again. He was holding his hand to his nose in attempt to stop the bleeding I had caused. I noticed that when he opened his eyes, he immediately looked around and stopped his gaze to my right: to the man with the syringe. Almost immediately his face of pain and anger turned into one full of excitement and satisfaction.

"What did you do to me?" I asked in haste to get as much information before the drug, whatever it was, had taken effect.

He smiled wide. "That… is a new serum we've brewed with _special_ permission from the President… FUCK OFF!" He shouted to one of his soldiers that tried to fix his nose with a tissue. The soldier put his hands up to signal giving up his action. "Anyways," Morty continued, "According to the research over the past year, it's been proven to be a very effective torturous technique that causes several symptoms that take effect over a short, but not quick enough, amount of time. You just so happen to be the first human trial, so we'll see how it goes from here." He paused for a moment as if allowing me to process what he said. Seeing my face hadn't changed, he simply continued. "In 5 minutes, you begin to feel a sight headache that, after 2 minutes, will grow into a migraine. After 10 minutes of injection, projectile vomiting will ensue causing dehydration. After 15 minutes, the serum attacks the neurons in your brain that interpret your senses. You will be completely disoriented and begin to hallucinate in all the pain and confusion the migraine and vomiting had caused. And if you survive, we might just let you on to a little secret."

"2 minutes have passed, sir," the grunt with the syringe said, looking at his watch. Morty nodded in understanding without averting his gaze from my eyes.

I noticed Matthew walking slowly out of the tree line with no emotion on his face and a knife in his hands. I looked back and attempted to give the slightest of nods, but had apparently made too much movement as Morty's face grew curious. He turned around to see Matthew stopping in his tracks. Though he had lost the element of surprise, I still believed, due to his history and background, that he could kill this bastard and hopefully cure whatever crap they put into me.

"Ah, Killstreak, I was wondering when you would show up. I was beginning to believe you had forgotten where to meet with us at," Morty said in a quite surprisingly friendly tone. But I wasn't too focused on his change of demeanor. No, I was questioning to myself why he had just called my brother by his call sign like they had been best buds for years. Morty then turned around to see my face in an obvious state of shock, to which his smile had widened, yet again.

"Oh wow, I _can_ see the resemblance between you two. It's almost like you were meant to be twins. Though it is a pity that only one of you can be… willing to die for what he loves." At these words, Matthew closed his eyes and looked down. He began walking forward towards my confused face and stopped at about a meter away from me. He opened his eyes just enough to look into mine begging for an explanation to what was going on.

"Matthew?" I asked with a voice full of many emotions.

"4 minutes have passed, sir," the grunt said.

Matthews eyes looked back down while Morty began to speak.

"Oh well isn't this just heartwarming? You see, Michael," he spoke with his tone becoming understanding, "We actually need you to come with us, to see the President, that is. But, you were being so stubborn and impossible to catch. Looking into your past and seeing that you have no wife, children, or parents to care for anymore, we looked at your brother. Now I know that he would be so willing to sacrifice himself for anyone. But, unfortunately, he only has one life. He can't possibly compensate sacrifice for you, and the family he started before you ruined his perfect life. I mean it would just be impossible to save three lives if you were already dead for one of them."

I hadn't averted my eyes, now full of hurt, from Matthew, but I kept listening.

"Wouldn't you think it so brave to sacrifice the safety of your own brother for the safety of the one's you had left home to start a life with? I know I do. And apparently," he said putting a hand around Matthew's left shoulder, "so does he.

"5 minutes have passed sir," the grunt said, but everyone was so caught up in the situation, including myself at the time, that no one had payed any attention.

"Matthew… tell me you didn't set me up," I said with my eyes beginning to water. He didn't respond or even look at me. "Matthew," I said a little louder, "Tell me, you didn't just give your own brother in. Tell me, please tell me, that after everything we've been through, growing up, our service, on the run, that you didn't just throw your own brother away like that!"

I waited in total silence for a couple of minutes before a response came from him.

"…I'm… sorry."

It was almost like time had frozen in place. Everything began to move in slow motion, even the sounds. I stood there, bound by soldiers, with my mouth open in shock to his response. A single tear rolled down my cheek and dripped to the ground. I felt sadness. The only tie I had left in this world was gone. I had no mother or father to go back to anymore, and my brother had betrayed me.

I was truly alone.

But why? Why did he have to do it? In a span of a few seconds, I imagined the several possibilities to why he turned me in. But none of them were good enough for how well we… how well I _thought_ we knew each other. I looked at him under a new, strange light.

Who was this man? The sadness I felt was washed over and replaced with rage, blind fury, that had been building up inside of me since my whore of an ex gave up on me. My hands shook and a few more tears escaped my eyes. I don't think I could have been any more frustrated and hurt than I was now.

"YOU TRAITOR!" I yelled at him. In an act of this fury, I spat into his eyes to which he responded by shutting them tightly like he had been hit with mace.

"AAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" he screamed out painfully. I saw Morty look him a mixture of what looked to be surprise and curiosity.

"Sergeant, how much time has passed?" He asked his grunt after shifting his focus back to me.

"It's been 10 minutes since initial injection, sir," the grunt said surprising Morty. The crazed man then looked closer into my eyes trying to look for something, I noticed this, but refused to take my eyes off of Matthew who was still trying to wipe his eyes.

I'm not sure whether it was the injection, or the tears of hurt I from my "brother," but my vision started to blur a little. I tried blinking a few times, but was met without result as it became more and more blurry. Normally, if something was disrupting my eye, it was a physical object, but I couldn't even feel the slight pressure of an eyelash. I tried squinting my eyes a little, but was once again met with no result.

"Where…" I started, but decided to abandon the sentence. I knew Morty would gain advantage if he noticed I was weakened.

"Oh my God…" I heard him whisper in what sounded like fear, but easily mistakable for mystified. At this point, I could only see the shape of his head and green everywhere around him. I closed my eyelids for a couple of seconds only to roll my eyes around. I hoped that this would clear my vision up, but failed when I opened them.

However, I had to do sort of a double take with my eyes. I closed them once more, but kept them there when I noticed something. Instead of the random blackness I saw when normally closing my eyes, the darkness looked to have taken a hue of blue. I focused my "vision" a little further in astonishment; not because of the blue, but because of what was inside. I saw faint lines and glows. The lines looked to be of a lighter blue color, but the glows seemed to be colors of all sorts. I saw mostly green with a couple of red, purple, and black spots. I didn't… I couldn't understand this. They were all so faint, yet they seemed so real. A thought came to me that it might just be an effect of forcing my eyelids shut. To prove this, I opened my eyes again… but something went wrong.

Nothing had changed.

I saw only the same thing. The outlines and the glows, only a little more defined this time. The green glows really seemed to be dots of green moving up and down and appearing to be branching out like trees. The red, purple, and black glows took shapes of… people. Silhouettes. Shadows of different color dispersed throughout whatever field of vision I was seeing. Though I obviously noticed the giant head-shaped glow of crimson right in front of me.

I looked down only to see more blue outlines and colored glows. I caught sight of a new color, however. I noticed a very light, but very blue glow in two spots: right where my feet would be. I decided to test my suspicions and moved my left foot to the left. I gasped as the silhouette moved in accordance to what I felt. But as soon as I gasped, I also felt something…. A crimson hand, grab my chin and force my face upwards to see the crimson face once again.

"What are you feeling?" I heard Morty say. What was I feeling? I'm not too entirely sure at this point. Actually, I take that back. I felt… everything. How? I'm not sure. But for some unknown reason, I could sense everything within the vicinity of the clearing. I could feel, or sense for lack of a more accurate term, the person in front of me, whom I presumed to be Morty. I could sense all of his soldiers, who glowed with some sort of gray color. I could feel Matthew; he was the one glowing in blue, like I was, standing behind a black and purple soldier. I could feel all the weapons and inanimate objects that were outlined in blue. I could feel every cell moving and flowing throughout the green vegetation. I could feel its surface from so far away; I could feel its essence.

Then it hit me. Everything was hitting me at once: my vision and the information it was putting into my head was becoming too much for my human mind to handle. I felt pressure at first, but the snowball rolled further downhill as time progressed. And I couldn't stop it.

Whether I closed or opened my eyes, I still saw the shapes and still felt their presence tingling all of my senses at once. Realizing that there was no way out, I began to yell… no. I'll save my masculinity for another day: I was screaming bloody murder. I couldn't focus on anything; it was all too much.

Morty and Mathew had looks of pure terror on their faces, I could just tell. Though I could feel just a small hint of expectation from Morty as well. Figures, he's the fucker that injected me with this… poison?

So what could I do? I couldn't escape the intake of information, and I couldn't stop the pain. So how? Easy. I could do mankind's only defense when against a threat they know they couldn't handle: I could run.

I began kicking my feet furiously on the ground in attempts to run, but those damned soldiers' grasp was too solid. I needed a foot hold; I needed more power.

And as I asked, so I had received. With as much force as I could, I brought my right arm up to escape at least one of the guards. And to my surprise, I barely felt no more than a 10 lb. plate holding me back, and my hand went with ease to my face almost striking myself. And apparently, through my vision, I watched as he went with my arm, knocking down the gray-glowing man in front of my brother. I could feel everyone, even my brother, staring at me now; I had thrown a possibly 250 lb. man as easy as a large rock. I looked to my hand and felt a slight ease of my pain, and then the thought came to me on how to end this mind-splitting pain. It was so quick, so sudden, but in the high and adrenaline in all that was going on, I've never agreed with myself more than I have now.

Destruction. Time had slowed again as I pondered on this. Destruction could rid me of this nightmare. But why? Why would I kill? Again, easy. Because I was born to. All my life had flashed in my internal thoughts. I was raised to be good, to be the hero; everyone is. But time and time again, _I_ was treated like the villain, and I was expected to be good? Bastards had killed my father, and it was the bastards that I killed. It was the cutthroats that killed my mother, so it was the cutthroats I hated, but couldn't openly kill. But now I'm dead to everyone else – even to my own brother. Who had done that? It couldn't be authority, they only labeled me as the enemy. No, it was humanity. The realization clicked to me. Throughout my life, I had been nothing but garbage that no one wanted. I offered my help; I gave my time; fuck, I almost died for the cause of goodness. But no, they only looked at me in disgust with every hand I gave to help. Everything they believed in, I tried to follow, or at least respect it, but all I received was their hate and backs turned, while they saved their love and gratitude for themselves. In the end it was always about themselves. Everything they did was for themselves, while everything I did was in service. It wasn't a group of people that I hated anymore; it was humanity. All we've ever done is cause pain. The thought enraged me, and my rage greatly reduced the pain I was feeling. So why shouldn't _I_ cause pain? It was simple as dropping a match into a silo of gasoline.

All I had to do was let go.

I turned my head slowly to look at the face of the soldier still grabbing my arm. I could feel the fear emanating from him as my eyes gazed into where his should be; I stared into his soul with the fury in my eyes. In a flash, I drew my fist back and launched a deathly punch into his face, effectively sending him back a few meters.

Then they opened fire. With great surprise, but much grace, I dodged every single bullet I saw coming my way. Though a couple did slip by and graze my side, but nothing too harmful. I felt someone being shot behind; evidently, BCT can't teach anything about marksmanship safety anymore.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Morty yelled at them. I looked with focus in my eyes at the blob of crimson that held his metallic hand out towards me. I then looked at the waves of black that shot out towards me, and immediately sidestepped to the right to avoid them. I could feel Morty's anger rise slightly and he swiftly moved his hand to his left so he would catch me in the normally invisible beam.

I was beginning to like the shot that he gave me. I mean without it; I would probably be begging for their mercy. Now, it's almost the other way around as I used its abilities to my advantage.

 _Let go…_

I rolled underneath the beam and forward to gain some distance on them. Another couple of shots fired off, which I dodged again, and Morty yelled at them to stop.

"STOP you fucking imbeciles! We need him alive for the Dr.!"

"Experiment's?" I asked darkly. "I think not!" I immediately leaped forward into a roll that I jumped towards Morty from… only to be frozen in place by his goddamned equipment. I cursed myself mentally, but I refused to let him take me. There had to be a way to escape.

"This was supposed to be torture for you," I heard him panting. I struggled to get out while he spoke. "But now, it appears that we've discovered something that will be… quite useful to us." I tried spitting at him, but couldn't tell where it landed. "Think of it Michael. I know we started out as enemies, but think of the possibilities! With what this serum can do to humans, as you've proven, we can change the world! We can create the perfect super soldier for every national threat! With the fame you'll have in the assistance of its discovery, forget your fucking crimes! You'll be labeled a new man, a world-changing man!"

"I'd rather fuck a dead cactus than take your goddamned offer."

"*sigh* Listen Michael, I would hate to have you give up this offer, but it's your choice. But don't worry; I'll remember your sacrifice in aiding this world's future when I bury you right next to your father's deathbed." he said with very potent venom in his words.

A boiling sensation rose up inside of me. All of the anger I felt towards him spread throughout my body like a snake finding the right hole and stop at the palms of my hands. My face shook with rage as I focused more of my anger in the same spot. After a few seconds had passed, I glanced at my hand to see a blob of blue being held in place. I focused more of whatever anger I had left in that same palm and watched the blob grow larger. Though I kept feeding it, I felt weary just holding onto it so long, but I couldn't exactly throw it at Morty: he had me frozen in place. But the more I waited, the weaker I felt. Eventually, I couldn't hold the orb any longer, and I let it go, but to my surprise, it had not fallen to the ground, it had shot from my hand like a bullet at the crimson silhouette that was Morty. He was sent back several meters and looked to be knocked out cold, and I was released from the gauntlet to land on the ground taking a quick knee before standing once again.

 _Let go…_

I smirked at the rest of the surrounding soldiers that had their weapons raised towards me. I gave a low, dark chuckle, laughing at the situation, and said:

"My turn." The tides turned and I swiftly vented my anger through both of my arms to charge these orbs and shoot them at two soldiers to my right. I sensed trouble coming from all around me and another maelstrom of bullets came in my direction. I moved my body out of the way of open fire and directed my movement towards a soldier counterclockwise of my 'brother.' My intent was to have the rounds misfire and hit him instead, but it seems that these half-brained soldiers seemed to have learned something from the past. They stopped firing.

Oh well, easier for me, right? The soldier I was moving to then dropped his weapon and unsheathed his knife and got into a melee stance. A couple of bullets flew by, but these were bursts meant for ensuring a hit against a small target; they wouldn't chance a casualty of their own again.

I avoided the rounds yet again and lunged towards the soldier; to which he responded with thrusting his blade towards my face. This man had much to learn. I pushed upwards on his arm, causing me to fall to the ground in a rolling motion and stop behind him. There, I immediately jumped up and grasped his head between my arms. Without a second thought, I twisted with as much force as I could might, and ended his life right there.

Observing the tree that he was standing next to, I quickly took his knife, and side-stepped behind it as the soldiers opened fire again. I looked behind me through my 'sight' to see a gray silhouette coming closer. Waiting for the chance to strike, I calmly eased myself and lowered my pulse. When I felt him go just behind the tree, I quickly snatched him and jammed the other soldier's knife deep into his jugular.

I then took this quick opportunity to take account of how many soldiers were left. If facing the tree was my 12, then I had two to my 1, three to my 12, and three, including my brother, to my 10. Although, I did notice a body of crimson lying down, which made me think a bit. I looked back down to the dead soldiers and noticed that their glow had faded and were simply outlines of blue, yet again.

They were dead, and Morty was still alive. I took a deep breath and sprinted around the tree heading to what was my 1 O'clock: two soldiers, both gray. They immediately opened fire, but were two late. I had shot two orbs at both of them, dazing them after firing a couple of missed shots, and, taking the soldier's knife in my left hand and mine in my right, I attempted to stab them both in their hearts.

This had worked on the soldier to my right, but the one to my left was a little more experienced in hand to hand combat. Essentially, the man used the length of his weapon to thrust my left arm upward and its butt to strike my chest. It was an effort worth the try, but my resolve for destruction was greater than his will to think quicker.

Sensing the other's about to open fire, I grabbed him by his hand and swept him around, holding it behind his back, as his allies opened fire on his body.

'Seven to go,' I thought, still using his body to absorb the fire power. I looked under my feet to find this guy's weapon, and there it was. A Black M4 fully loaded and zeroed, but not to perfection. 'What the fuck is the Army teaching nowadays? Are the best guys really that cocky?' I kept thinking to myself. Then again, so was I at the moment.

I shrugged my critiques at the moment and bent down, still holding the lifeless sponge, to grab the rifle by the pistol grip. With a firm hold, I aimed the muzzle to the group of three soldiers, that didn't include my brother, hiding behind trees and fired a round, a test shot – to see my accuracy in my vision without directly aiming down the sights. Squeezing the trigger and holding, I watched as the blue matter fly, with a streak of white tailing it, and hit the tree that the soldier to the right was hiding behind. I could tell, watching the white tail continue through the tree, that if it had gone through, it would have hit his side, possibly rupturing his kidney.

I noted that the white streaks could have possibly been energy; either that or just the action of the round tearing through the wind.

I put the body down, and waited for the golden opportunity to strike. At this point, I didn't care which person I hit or which order I hit them, as long as I was the only one that left this clearing alive. Fuck strategy.

To my right, a gray body peered over a tree to get a good sight on me. Thank God for this strange vision. If I didn't have it, I probably wouldn't be able to surprise him. Immediately, the soldier revealed his rifle and aim towards me. He would have at least taken a successful hit, if I hadn't beat him to the punch.

I mentally praised myself seeing the bullet enter between his eyes.

 _All I had to do…_

As soon as I knew the bullet had hit, I turned to my left and fired two more equally accurate shots at the unlucky bastards that thought they could sneak up on me with a surprise of their own.

'4 left,' I thought. I glanced at all of them: a gray body with a blue one, and another gray body with an unconscious crimson one. A thought came to my head, and I walked backwards, disappearing into the trees.

I wanted to see if I could use this vision to my advantage in stealth. I could easily see through the trees at their bodies full of life, but could they sense me. As I walked around the clearing, concealed in the darkness, I could see the two gray soldiers motioning to each other. They both nodded and faced each other, weapons at the ready.

I loved this old guard trick. Covering two sides at once while also ensuring protection from behind as long as your battle buddy was alert. It was bulletproof… if I was doing it at least. My brother decided to go back to back with one off the soldiers, leaving one side wide open for opportunities of advancement.

Carefully, I crept to that said side, ensuring to keep noise and light discipline, towards the guard that was left alone with my knife in my right hand.

Unfortunately for my sake, the pain in all the regions of my head had returned, making it unable for me to focus completely. I would've screamed; oh how I wanted to just expel the torture, but the satisfaction of killing those responsible for all of my pain was greater than the temptation to cause unnecessary and detrimental attention.

 _All I had to do…_

But throb after throb, the control over my own senses were beginning to dwindle. No, I wasn't losing whatever hell of an 'ability' they gave me; however, rate at which my brain was processing information was waving back and forth. As I stood in the same area, my hearing had deafened to where a major chemical explosion may have barely gotten my attention, and it had become so sensitive, that I recall hearing a pinecone falling 100 feet over in my southwest direction. Colors of all kinds infiltrated my nose to leave an odd combination that I wasn't so sure whether it was pleasant or putrid.

The worst of all of them were the memories. I saw images of them – ghosts – haunting my 'vision' and ultimately confusing me between reality and imagination. I looked upwards to see a jet, a commercial airliner, flying quite low for its standardized flying altitude. I shook in horror as it crashed into a towering skyscraper.

Thousands of innocents just obliterated from existence.

There was someone in the dense forest running towards me, but he was different than everything else I have been seeing. It was not a glow of a solid color; It looked like a person, a male from my perspective, I would've seen if I didn't have this goddamned venom running through my optical senses. When he had reached about 15 meters from me, his features became more distinct.

He was wearing a dark violet collared dress shirt under a dark gray coat and matching slacks complemented by black dress shoes. He ran closer in slow motion, with details becoming finer and finer. He had tanned skin; inherited, not developed, and black hair in a high fade with the top combed to the side. The man was fairly well-built, suggesting a routine gym-workout.

But something about him filled me with terror, His eyes were pitch-black. And if that wasn't enough to give me ongoing night terrors, they were flaring with actual fire. And though he was moving in slow motion, his movements projected him sprinting to me. He was running tome shouting some strange language, an unfamiliar tongue that I was too afraid to analyze its roots; something my late brother had taught me once.

The character continued sprinting and mouthing words until, in the blink of an eye, he stood there, his faced inches from mine that were in between the firmest of grasps by his hands. He breathed in, or more appropriately 'wheezed' in, as if taking in the pleasantry of the woods' air.

"YOUR FAULT!" he yelled at an ear-splitting volume.

… _was let go…_

I shut my eyes and shook my head violently while also pawing at my face to get away from him. To my surprise, it had worked, though I still was seeing the forest and clearing around me in my vision. My headache felt to have subsided; it was still well there, but less prominent than it was.

I looked at the blobs of color yet again, and aimed to forget what I just saw, but not without muttering a word to remember this by, "Father…"

The fact my position was the same as before let it dawn on me that it was just a quick blackout I just experienced, and nothing more… but it created something in me that I didn't know of just yet. My only proof of this was looking at my body again: instead of an aqua blue, it was now a bright red.

I moved my hands in front of my face and turned them to reassure myself that I wasn't imagining this. But alas, nothing changed, and this nightmare was still going on. Would anything ever go right or at least predictable?

Shaking my head from its thoughts I continued on forward to the isolated man. I guess that I had given away my position as the soldier on the opposite side aimed his weapon towards our position and talked over a small radio.

"Don't move," he said. Though the radio was designed for communication between its users, it apparently didn't hinder my own awareness to the situation thanks to my curse.

I decided to lay a small trap. About 5 yards away, my head peeked out to the side of the soldier, and I taunted the far soldier. 'alright, just aim and shoot, and let energy take care of the rest,' I monologued in my head.

"Like hell I'm gonna fall for that," the far soldier spoke, directed towards me. 'Damn, I thought I had him. Oh well, plan B.'

Taking as little time as possible, I pushed my legs to jump and stab the near soldier's jugular, causing him to convulse and shake slightly. After removing the knife, I kicked him, with all my might, towards the far soldier and my brother. To the surprise of my conscious mind, I had over-powered the force and the body had bulleted towards the two.

The last soldier had barely enough time to duck, leaving my brother to take the force completely. Not letting the silhouette of gray take advantage of time, I sprinted to him and picked him up. I smiled at the thought of ending his life. Thoughts of so many ways to kill him slowly and painfully came to thought, and made my grin widen. I could feel the fear emanating of this man; yet, there was also something else here.

I pushed him towards the nearest tree and pinned his neck to the bark while ensuring he had no suitable way to fight back via weaponry. I looked into his eyes; not where his eyes would be, his eyes. I looked into his soul and stared it down while choking the vital life out of him.

How long we were there wasn't long, his time came quicker than I wanted, but it was the way nature worked. But he left a couple of things for me. The first were a short message that were so full of appreciation for me and regret for his actions, "Go to hell," he said.

The next thing was… indescribable. It was something that the rage of me had blocked my sight of this earlier. The other soldiers I killed, the other's I ended, showed me something that I refused to watch. But my last victim had left me on my knees, haunted by its sight.

Shortly after he uttered his last words, his eyes had closed and the mist of gray that filled his body, that… gave him life, literally lifted from the body and, with the help of a beam of light shooting down from the clouds, floated into the heavens. I looked back at his body, a husk, a shell. It was nothing more than a conduit used by this man's soul.

I shuddered. No, I wretched. At this point, what physical reaction I had was meaningless to the trauma that was inside of my mentality. That… image… disturbed me. I've killed many humans before in the act of war – in defense of my country, so why was I shaking at the sight of this death?

Was it his words?

 _All I had…_

Was it how he passed on?

 _All I had to do…_

Was it the serum?

I looked at my shaking hands; they were stained with blood… I could see it.

… _Let go…_

This vision, or whatever I have, had not filtered the essence from my sight. If anything, it was amplified. It was the color of gray; it was the color of all the lives I ended. It shined brightly despite the dull nature of its hue. I could see it clearly contrasting my own color with ease. The smell filled my nose; however, it wasn't as intoxicating as before. I no longer felt amusement in the bloodshed of these soldiers; it no longer drove me in pure blood rage and frenzy. At least, not their blood.

It wasn't their fault. They were soldiers; they were humans with lives almost as similar as what I once had. They only followed orders. But that's exactly what will drive this race of organisms down past the gates of hell. They didn't end; they facilitated.

I still hated them, but I couldn't go on with the accusation that they were to blame.

I looked behind me at the still unconscious blob of red with abhorrence.

But he could. This was his fault, this ambush. The fact my brother turned against me. I admit to myself that he was only a pawn in what I was sure was a much bigger plan. Regardless of his respectable power, he must have someone higher up in rank than him to call most of the shots. Someone or some group that sent him to ask me questions in his place.

The least I could do was send a reply to them.

I picked up my knife with a firm grasp and stood up looking at him without a feeling of somberness, discontent, or doubt in the world; my whole existence agreed with what I was about to do. With each step I took, the closer I felt to starting something that would spark and start the gears of mankind in a new direction.

As I stood over his limp body, I felt raw power leaking out of my soul. Even though Morty wasn't conscious to see my work, I could simply sense the difference in position from where we were about 30 minutes ago: I had dominance, and he was hopeless. Nothing could take my focus on my plans for him… except for the feeling of cold steel penetrating my left, lower back.

It stopped. Everything did: my focus, my thoughts, my actions… my sight. Quicker than it had come to me, my altered vision had disappeared, leaving me with my normal color and depth-perceiving vision. I didn't even have to turn around to see who had done it; simple deduction took care of that. I felt a muscle twitch in my legs, before thee went limp, and I gave my weight into Matthew, who had already taken his knife out of my wound

He caught me with the crooks of his elbows under my armpits: deadman carry style. Slowly, he took a knee and supported my weight on it as if a temporary break. He looked at my face.

"Michael," he said with a soft voice, "what have you done?" I could tell in the look of his eyes that he wasn't sad, surprised, understanding, or even regretful; I only saw anger. Not the type of anger towards a significant other being unfaithful, not the anger of betrayal, not the anger of losing a loved one to the bullet of a criminal. This was the anger that paralled that of a father disappointed in the outcome of his son's future.

In the few minutes that followed, no words were spoken from either of us. We were as silent as the trees without wind. I couldn't fathom what his mind was going through. As for me? I was waiting for him to finally get rid of me. I would rather be dead than live in purgatory for the rest of my miserable life. And since he hasn't done anything yet, I might as well convince him to.

"I might be imprisoned again," I started, "But when I escape, and I _will_ , I will hunt you and your pathetic family down and pick them off one by one. And when I have slaughtered your whore of a wife, I will not rest until you are feeling what I have felt for the last several months. Then after you die, I will rip apart limb from limb every person associated with the government I once lived for."

Matthew closed his eyes while a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"I… I can't let you do that Michael. I can't…"

And with that said, he picked me up in a sort of bridal style with the exception of my hands clutching my wound. When he stood up, he looked left and right for any signs of human life that wasn't of military personnel, and after he ensured we were truly alone, albeit an unconscious Morty, he walked off to the sound of rushing water.

 _What have you done…_

As he walked I figured the best thing to do was at least get some answers.

"Why did you do it?" I asked him. While he continued walking, his eyes showed him thinking deeply about my question, almost like he was on auto-pilot. But why would he have to think about an answer? It was a simple explanation was it not?

"You wouldn't understand. You don't have a…"

"I did… I almost had a family," I interrupted with anger. I wasn't going to give him an easy way out of this.

"It wasn't only about that. He promised that if we cooperated, then he would let us live, not only that, but we would begin new lives. We would start over. But you had to go and tear apart everything like a dog with his chew toy. I know you had a family, but that was it: you _had_ one. Mine is still alive, Michael. Yours left you in shatters," he finished with a long pause with the sound of water becoming louder.

"I can't help but agree; you were always dead to me."

I felt him stop and I turned to see in front of him: a waterfall, easily 10 stories high, rushed over a cliff into a pile of large rocks that fed the incoming water into the continuing river.

I returned my look into his eyes and he did the same. The adrenaline of battle had calmed down, but my anger towards him remained the same, and with full intent and knowledge on what I was saying, I said the three words that had never truly meant anything in my life until now.

"I hate you," I said calmly, but with venom dripping out of that sentence.

Matthew closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment. I could sense the feeling of failure emanating from him.

 _All I could do…_

"I'm sorry, but goodbye br…" He paused to clear his throat and then continued, "Goodbye… Michael."

Without further ado, he simply relaxed his arms and watched as I dropped to the bottom of the falls helplessly. And as I fell, time slowed once again, allowing me to think in my last moments.

… _I let go…_

'So this is how it ends… My own brother drops me from a cliff to my impending doom.'

I think back to all of the events in my life and watch as they play out in front of me very shortly.

Buildings on fire.

A funeral.

A bloody nose.

A punching bag.

A desk.

The stars.

Wrestling mats.

A uniform.

A girl.

A medal.

Papers.

A cap.

Another uniform.

Another girl.

An airplane.

A tab.

Another airplane.

Desert.

Blood.

A cave.

A vision.

Water.

A call.

Another funeral.

A ring.

The news.

A hammer.

My brother.

The woods.

Blue.

Red.

Water.

As I approached the rocks, I closed my eyes in final acceptance and gave a prayer.

'God, I know I've made irredeemable mistakes moments ago, but I ask that you forgive me by giving me another chance. Please make _this_ my last request,' and I waited.

…

And waited.

…

And… waited?

I opened one eye and, soon after, the other and gasped in astonishment from a sharp point of a rock near inches from my face. I had been so close that if I moved forward just a tad the mineral would poke my eye. I dared to move my head and look up at my feet for any signs of entanglement on something or just plain tension from a possible rope connecting my foot to something….

But there was nothing. I looked all around and noticed that the water was no longer flowing, but was frozen. I took my finger and extended my arm in attempt to inspect the questionably frozen liquid.

But as soon as I felt the liquid, which was surprisingly phantom-like, an enormous roar penetrated the forest as well as my ears. I went to cover my ears with both of my hands to shield myself from the deafening noise. And right when I did so, the water resumed its movement and my head had hit the rock. The last things I remember seeing before I blacked out were the sky, a wave of colors hitting my face, and, in the midst of all this, a pair of irregularly large, blue eyes coming closer to my face as the darkness enveloped me and everything else within it.

 _What have you done…_

* * *

 ** _a/n_**

 **Well there's the first chapter. I've had this story running through my mind for about a year now. I just haven't gotten around to putting it into form up until now. I've not much to say about it really until you guys have read it so I'll keep this note short.**

 **Any questions, comments, and concerns are greatly appreciated from me. Anything that could help me turn this story into something great is welcome as well as compliments or disagreements about my writing style. I know that this chapter is kinda rushed as well as the next one so I'm hoping that as I continue, the flow of my ideas can ease out and everything can become smooth.**

 **Chapter 2: Familiar**


	2. Familiar

**I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Familiar**

{3rd Person}

2001

The sun was beginning to creep over the horizon, greeting the city of Phoenix for another clear morning. There were no clouds to be seen nor was there any wind to annoy anyone in the city. It was only the start of what would be a normal, beautiful Tuesday.

In fact, the sun had positioned itself so carefully just to seep through the blinds of a young boy's room, giving him a somewhat surprising awakening. The child, who couldn't have been any older than the age of six, opened his chocolate-brown eyes in response to his summoning by the sun. He blinked a few times while staring into the bright fireball before rolling over and pulling the covers over his head.

The boy shut his eyes again and returned to his blissful state of rest to enjoy his last moments of serene and silent sleep before…

"Michael, time to wake up!" a woman's voice said as the bulb on the ceiling flooded the boy's room and blanket with evil, blinding light. The boy responded to his rude awakening with the method that children, teens, and some adults, across America, no, the world, use to cope with the start of a new day…

"…five more minutes… thanks mom…" he groaned slowly but clearly; a little too clearly for a mother to believe her son needed the sleep. But as most mothers, his mom had ways of convincing him that his way could never possibly go through.

"You know, if you don't get up, then I just won't take you along to the restaurant tonight for your brother's birthday; you could stay here and eat leftovers again…"

…

'Dangit. She got me," Michael thought, somehow already knowing that she as going to do something like this. After all, he had never won the war that prevented him from returning to the sweet, blissful abyss of sleep. Sighing in defeat he took the covers off from his head and sat up, giving his mother the stink eye for ripping him from the mattress without lifting a single finger.

"Don't give me that look, if you had things your way you'd be a mess. Be glad I prepare you for the day," she said with that motherly smile that you couldn't tell the difference from threatening or reassuring. With that last sentence, she walked out of the room, leaving the door open so the rest of the light in the hallway could keep him away from his dreams yet again.

Michael just sat there in minor contemplation at what would be the perfect excuse for staying asleep. 'Well, I could just fake a coma… but what if she stabbed me to see if I was really asleep? No, it could never work… but maybe if someone kidnapped me in my sleep. Maybe they would take me to a nice bed where I could go back to nice… nice… amazing… wonderfffuul… sleeeeee…' And he was back on the bed dozing off due to the complexity of his thoughts.

"MICHAEL!" he heard his mother yell from just outside of his room. In under the five seconds it took his mother to get inside his room, Michael threw open the gates that were his eyes, tore his blanket off his body, scrambled up and proceeded to look through his dresser as if he was having trouble finding his clothes for the day.

"I'm awake mom, just having trouble finding my clothes," he said praying the excuse would work. His mom looked at him with an eyebrow raised while repeatedly glancing at his pre-selected clothes lying in a heap on his chair. If it weren't for the fact that she helped him arrange those clothes for today like she had for the past several years, then she might have had a drop of real belief in her soul at that excuse… and she probably wouldn't be holding back a laugh at the moment.

"Did you check the chair, sleepyhead?" she inquired hiding a few giggles in the sentence.

Michael stopped his progress, looked up at the wall and then hung his head silently cursing himself for even attempting to fool his mother with his level of intelligence. Seeing as though she had gotten through to him, she left the room and walked down the hallway towards the living room TV, which was easily seen from the kitchen.

As Michael proceeded to get ready for real this time, his mother clicked the power button on the TV remote and listened to the static on the box click and give off its very high-pitched frequency while the image slowly appears.

'Damn kids,' she thought to herself with a small smile, 'I thought I changed it to the news last night.' She clicked a few buttons on the remote that would send the television to the local news station. 'I guess they watched a little action-packed TV last night when they were _supposed_ to be asleep. I'll have to…' she couldn't finish her thought when the screen appeared again, showing the same image she just left from the previous channel.

But this as no movie. On the bottom was a small caption that said one word that when put together with the image, made Michael's dear mother drop the remote as well as her mug of coffee: LIVE. It was a shock, just like to anyone else, she couldn't believe it herself at first; she wouldn't have if she knew in her heart that this wasn't the news channel.

Destruction, there was so much destruction for anyone to take in all at once.

In all the horror that was occurring on the television, she had ignored the constant ringing of the home telephone, leaving a peeved Michael, who was busy waiting for his older brother to finish showering at the time, to answer the annoying call himself.

"Hello?... Oh hi dad!... I'm okay, we're going to the restaurant today for Matt's birthday. It sucks you're away though, I really miss you… I love you too dad… No, Matt's in the shower… No… she's watching a movie on the TV… Put her on the phone?... Okay, Mom?"

"…" No answer

"Mom, it's Dad."

That got her attention. Her head snapped to the phone that lay in Michael's grasp, she then picked up the remote and turned off the TV before speed walking to him.

"Thank you Michael, go… go get ready," she said, hoping to not break down in front of her son.

"But Matt's in the shower," he attempted to argue.

"Then go and clean your room, please," she said. Michael obeyed her order wondering why she got so mean all of a sudden. She prayed that he wasn't inside those buildings; she prayed that he called in sick to relax like he always used to do. She prayed that he was only a bystander on the street…

"Hello?" she said putting the speaker to her ear. The sound of screams and some sort of debris hitting objects quickly heightened and reassured her fears. "Chris?... Oh my God where are you?... Chris?... NO!... Please, get out of there… Don't say that!...

"I love you too… Yeah, I'll tell them… please can you look for just a…" She couldn't finish.

In the background of hearing her husband's breaths, she heard a loud and thunderous crack followed by what sounded like concrete hitting concrete for several seconds. Eventually, the line cut and all she could hear was the continuous beeping of the phone not in service.

Michael stayed in the hallway for minutes holding his Gameboy as he heard the loud wailing of his mother. He didn't know whether why she was crying, or how long she was going to cry, but that her tears, which have only been seen by him twice, meant something very, very grave.

He may have been a child at the time, but it didn't take an adult to know that he wasn't going to school that day. After an ample amount of time for him, he shook himself out of his thoughts, set his Gameboy down, and ran over to his Mom giving her a hug that she was quick to return to him.

In the mix of tears, whimpering, and sorrow, Michael could still hear the 8-bit music of the Lavender Town theme song. He had never wanted to throw his game against the wall any more in his life. But he couldn't; he had to stay here, with his mother…

[Present]

It was too perfect to last. Everything was.

The blissful silence and crystal clear air, I felt as if I could stay in this state for the rest of my life. But alas, all good things must eventually come to an end.

I cracked my eyelids open at the glimmer of light that found its way to my face. Annoyed by its presence, I turned over and pulled the bed sheets over my head in attempt to get another few hours of euphoric sleep in the angelic bed I rested in. Hopefully I could dream a little more of that family that I always wanted.

 _Let go…_

I sighed. It was too bad that my brother had turned on me like that. Same with my ex, I'm sure she would enjoy a couple of pleasurable hours in this amazing bed.

…

Wait… they turned on me, why am I even dreaming about them. And… speaking of dreaming…

As soon as the thought tickled my conscience, my eyes had torn open in sheer realization of the matter. I looked around frantically at the cotton sheet I had pulled over my body, blinking my eyes to make sure I wasn't still dreaming – that I wasn't hallucinating.

I looked down to my body and realized I wasn't wearing my original clothes. Instead of the warm clothing I had when I was 'killed,' I wore a pair of jeans, dark blue in color. And I wore a dark red, almost maroon, t-shirt as opposed to the numerous shirts and blood-stained jacket. My boots were gone as well.

I slowly applied pressure, with my hand, to the surface I was resting my body upon to find a mattress as soft as the clouds. I listened thoroughly for anything that could be identified as a running stream or the wind blowing or perhaps a person watching me, but there was practically nothing but golden light seeping through the sheet.

"Hmm this is… this ain't right. I thought I fell into a… river…" I thought aloud as I slowly pulled the linen from off of my head. Looking around, I obviously wasn't anywhere near a riverbed.

I was in a house. Not just a house, but a… cabin. Every bit of structure was built from either wood or stone. There were plants in pots just about every corner that wasn't already inhabited by stylish yet modest furniture and upholsteries and antiques that further complemented the architecture of the cabin. I also happened to be sleeping on what appeared to be a couch with a pull-out mattress.

I was filled with awe at the beauty and design of the cabin… or at least I would be… if I had a single fucking clue as to where I was… and if I actually gave a damn about it.

From the way it was designed, however, I could tell that I had been put inside of a living room for to my knowledge, there was really no purpose for the space of the room and the orientation of the furniture towards a fireplace other than for entertainment.

But back to the actual subject at hand: how did I end up here? I'm sure, there's no way I could be wrong about it, that I had fallen face first into a collection of jagged rocks. It couldn't be fake… it felt… it _was_ real.

So why am I here?

I recalled the events before then. All the emotions, and that serum. What the hell was that? That Morty guy said it was supposed to be a new method of torture. Sure I had a shattering headache, but then came the other effects. What was that? Of all the knowledge and understanding I've gained throughout the years, I couldn't believe that a simple drug would be able to do all of those things. And then… _he_ threw me off that waterfall.

Am I dead?

…

I wouldn't put it past me. This place sure seems like a slice of heaven itself. But did I deserve it? After the lives I took away, was I really worthy of peace?

That question was answered when something in the house moved. My ears twitched at the sound of light footsteps echoing through the walls. I thought that perhaps they were a child's, but they seemed to be too light. And the additional sound of nails scratching the wooden floor added to my doubt. Perhaps it was a pet, a dog or cat.

But for some reason, I just couldn't ignore that lightly. They were too even, as even as a child's curious step. I felt that it was being too careful, that it was trying to be silent, like it was aware of my presence as much as I was aware of it. And that invigorates me.

Slowly, I turned and touched my bare feet to the surface of the floor. I stood up, though a little dazed from my slumber still. But I guess that the sound of the bed creaking managed to get thee attention of whatever it was that was moving since it had stopped, no, froze. I didn't want to get up and scare it off and alert the owner of the cabin, or worse, perhaps attack me, but I wanted to at least find out what it was that was making those cautious steps.

I thought back to the serum and the ability it gave me to see through objects, x-ray vision I guess. I closed my eyes in attempt to replicate the scenario I was placed in. I slowed my breath, eased my pulse, and focused on the environment around me. Just like my meditation, I felt my reach of my surroundings expand. When I thought that I had regained that power, I opened my eyes.

But to my dismay, I only saw the house as it was through my usual vision. I sighed knowing that it was probably only a one-time thing, and that I would never be like that again unless I received another dose of that drug.

Looks like I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. I carefully walked, taking as light a step as possible, towards the kitchen. Maybe there was a knife I could use in self-defense if anything got out of hand. When I did reach the kitchen, however, I noticed my knife laying in plain sight on top of a granite counter. Looking around to ensure I was safe in making a grab towards it, I took another few steps to the counter and reached for the blade, but another couple of steps from the other source of life inside the house forced me to quicken my actions and I grabbed the handle sloppily, but firmly. I spun around to check for any signs of movement in the form of a shadow or the being itself.

This apparently surprised the creature just as much and it dashed off somewhere, according to my hearing. I frantically looked around without making any noise so much as a breath. I began walking to the nearest hallway and took up the right side, allowing me to sneak near the first door on that very same side.

When I reached the door, I sent a silent prayer and pushed the door open fully while backing off to avoid any possible shooting that might come from such a place. Blame it on my paranoia. After 20 more seconds of silence, I assumed that either the room was empty or that the inhabitants inside were just as careful and conservative of bullets as I was to shoot aimlessly at no target.

Believing the latter for ensuring purposes, I peeked my head slowly over the edge of the door frame and looked inside for any signs of life. Concluding that the open part of the room was void of people or animals, I took a step to my left and came in full view of the room.

The room seemed to be a sort of nursery. The walls weren't painted, but the window allowed light to flood the room. There were multiple beds, small beds meant for newborns and toddlers, each made of a wood frame and a typical mattress outfitted with light blue sheets.

But before I could take a step inside to investigate further; before I could even blink; before I could even get a hint or realize what would happen, I found myself knocked over to the ground from the force of an object hitting my right side. I coughed and struggled to breathe from the wind being knocked out of me due to the sheer force of the attack. But I was trained; regardless of the pain, I subsided it as well as the thought of pain in order to stand. While doing so, I looked around to find a moving body that might have hit me directly, but there was no one around. I then looked to the floor to see if this was a ranged attack: a hard object perhaps being thrown at me.

But again: there was nothing, which heightened a fear of mine as it dawned on me. I looked at my side to see if there was any bloodshed, perhaps a bullet or knife-wound that would explain the cause of impact, but again there was nothing. In fact, the pain had completely subsided by the time I had analyzed all three possibilities. There was no trace that I was even attacked; not even a visible bruise as I lifted up my shirt.

I looked around again and headed back towards the kitchen to the source of the attack. But I was once again met with a blow to the back by the same force with the same power. After stumbling slightly, I swiftly turned around to catch a glimpse of my attacker, and I received the sight of a shadow moving in the distance.

Bingo. It wasn't tall. Actually, it looked to be the size of a child. Maybe a better glimpse of it would give me a better conclusion. After all, it was only a shadow as far as I knew.

A shadow that could attack from a distance.

I gripped my knife in a way that I could quickly throw it at whoever was teasing me with ranged combat. That being done, I took a deep breath and prepared myself.

I began to sprint to the end of the hallway that the shadow had moved. I was lucky to not be struck with another blow to my body by the time that I reached the other side. I then ran to the left towards its direction to be met with another blow from behind me.

Goddamn it how was this guy… thing so fast? I gritted my teeth and immediately ran in the opposite direction I was originally going. I had ended up returning to the living room and noticed it moving past the entrance to the kitchen: to the opposite side of the house in another hallway. I ran faster in hopes of catching this damned coward.

How big was this cabin?

The hallway led to a turn to the right where I followed it.

Now I don't exactly know what it was that alerted me, but for a split second, for the tiniest of moments, I received this gut instinct that warned me, no, commanded me to avoid something coming from behind me. Reluctantly trusting this warning, I turned around, narrowly dodging a sphere. Everything after came into slow motion after that. This wasn't just any sphere: it was _the sphere_. The _blue_ sphere; the same exact one I had created numerous times when I was injected with the serum. My mind nearly went blank seeing it and images of blood, screaming, and gunshots echoed in my head. My reaction to dodging the object of energy led to me throwing the knife with all my might to the source of attack. But the strangest thing was that this attacker wasn't even human. It _looked_ humanoid, anthropomorphic, but everything else about it screamed inhuman… animal. Right when the knife had come within inches of its face, it rotated to the right, watching the point of the knife narrowly miss its muzzle by millimeters. That's right: muzzle.

Getting a good look at it, this thing was about three and a half feet tall standing on two legs, but its body resembled that of a dog. Its full body was dark grey, kind of bluish, with black legs and a black upper torso. Each of its four limbs ended with a paw, but its fore paws, its _hands_ , looked like it had bone growing out from the tops of them. Now its head looked like the shape of a young German Shepard, no more than a couple months old, but with most of its head that same blue color. And the pattern of the fur on its face was black, shadowing the eyes and top of its muzzle. But the strangest thing of all, were its second set of ears. They were black and drooped down to its shoulders; they seemed almost like bags being weighed down by its contents.

Everything resumed to a normal time continuation when the knife struck the wall behind it. It didn't move. I didn't move. We were both frozen at the actions of the other across from us. Then it slowly looked back at me, with its jaw hanging slightly open in disbelief like it didn't deserve a knife being thrown in its direction. I blinked. It blinked. I blinked again. It blinked yet again.

Its mouth then shut and the look in its eyes turned from shocked to outright furious. Normally I wouldn't be paralyzed with fear, but I was looking at a dog over half my height standing on two legs that could throw the very extracts of energy I used to kill before I ended up here. And worse, it was growling at me. I shook this fear off when it began to howl loudly, echoing throughout the house and through my eardrums. I covered my ears to avoid the sheer volume of the noise, and as soon as I caught sight of it charging another one of those death-balls, I turned around and legged it as fast as I could to wherever this hallway led.

The mouse had become the cat… or dog in this freakish scenario.

I heard the orb crash against the wall as I followed the hallway to another sharp turn to the right. I thanked God that this hallway finally led to a door to the outside, but I still had to evade this cursed dog. I didn't dare turn around in fear of being hit, but that same feeling I had earlier saved me the trouble of dodging those spheres through sight. I watched them hit the wall separating inside from out, but none hit the door.

Closer and closer I got, and I could taste safety on the other side. I was almost there; I was almost home free…

Just like when I ran into that trap in the clearing.

The mental image made itself real and, for split second, I was surrounded by trees. I wasn't running towards a door anymore, but an opening to a clearing. And on the other side of that opening, was Morty. But he was different. His eyes were pitch black and he wore a sinister grin with blood seeping from his mouth like he had finished eating meat fresh from a dead cow. In his right hand he held a machete smeared in blood, and in his left he was grabbing a head, my father's head, by the hair.

 _Let go…_

But that split second had distracted me enough to not only become hit by an orb, but the force of that strike had given me enough momentum to actually break through the door and land face first in the dirt several meters from the house.

A long "ow" was all I managed to let out. Once again, I felt no more pain from where I was hit, but I felt pain from my face scraping against the dirt. I picked my head up to breathe in the air that was knocked out of me, and I immediately regret that decision. Because what I came face to face with next wasn't that dog.

I was a great, gargantuan, green dinosaur, with a large flower at the base of its neck, making its head look like it was stemming from that flower. A sauropod to be exact. How do I know the name? I was a fan of dinosaurs when I was a kid.

But now? I was glad that they were extinct back when I wasn't in this fucking nightmare.

Anyways, I was frozen, unable to move or make a sound. Breathing was slow, but heavy as I looked at the sheer size of it compared to me. This thing was at least another foot taller than my normal height, and it was stocky, very stocky. I'm sure if this thing stepped on my foot, I would lose a few toes, but only after I died from it ripping my head completely off in one bite and pull.

I looked at its rough skin like that of a tortoise, and its eyes… they were like human eyes with yellow irises. It also had thin antennae that looked like it was made from a stiff vine.

I snapped out of my analytical trance and slowly stood up, careful to not make any jerking motions. I didn't want to scare this thing or provoke it. But I couldn't help but wonder something as I stood up. This dinosaur seemed similar, familiar to something in my past. But I couldn't put my finger on it.

As soon as I stood up completely, the dinosaur blinked and tilted its head. I wanted to know what it was thinking; if I was friend or food. I took a step back and, remaining eye contact, bowed respectfully in hopes of staying on good terms with this beast. And I guess that it worked, it seemed to do the same thing, only closing its eyes while bowing. I took this gesture as trust.

I couldn't believe it though. I've only met this thing a couple of minutes ago and it already trusts me, or so I think. I still remained wary, but I returned from my bow as it did the same. I was entranced at its gentleness so far; I didn't want to take advantage of that, but I also wanted to kind of see the extent of its gentle nature.

I brought my hand up to in front of my chest. I looked at it, closed my eyes and swallowed, and, staying as calm as possible, slowly began to reach up towards its head. I looked at nothing else other than its eyes, ensuring it that my focus wasn't on anything else but letting it know I meant no harm. It seemed to slightly trust me, but that didn't stop it from twitching its eye and giving off a slight growl once my hand was in front of its face. I flinched and pulled back slightly, but I regained confidence swiftly and continued my progress. I swallowed once more and placed my hand safely and gently on its head between its antennae.

I gave chuckled in disbelief of what I had just accomplished, and started rubbing up and down its head, earning a low grumble in content from the beast. Its eyes still watched me, but it seemed to trust me a little more.

But my eyes widened when I sensed _that_ danger again.

I abandoned my formalities and dove to the side to avoid the incoming collision. Now that I think about it, I might have felt pity for the victims I used it on. Those things hurt, terribly, but it was their fault for continuing the fight.

As I dove, the sauropod roared in pain from the impact and trampled off in the distance towards the trees, at least that was my assumption. I turned around immediately, upon hitting the surface, towards the menace behind all of this, but I surprisingly found something else instead: not a dog, but a… turtle. And a green one at that.

From the surface to the tip of its head, not counting the healthy-looking sprout, I would guess about two feet tall. Not a big nuisance to worry about, especially knowing the rather slow properties of turtles on land. However, its eyes were the same as that long-necked dinosaur: yellow and human-like.

I could hear a light but menacing growl coming from the pit of its throat as it glared at me. To be completely honest, however, I thought it was funny, rather cute for it to be looking at me like that. Almost like a child showing discontent to his step-father. Though it didn't seem threatening, I wasn't misled from the possibility of being more dangerous than it looked. After all, turtles were known for their malicious jaws, and there had to be a reason I felt that sensation earlier if the canine wasn't in sight.

And as if it had been reading my mind, the rather large amphibian began running in my direction, faster than I predicted it to for its size and species. I was fast, agile, and precise in my movements, but in terms of power in close quarters combat, this guy's got me beat. Analyzing the muscles oriented in his jaws, I would say that one bite from him would snap my bones at the very least.

I chose to avoid direct contact with it and instead ran towards the tree line, away from it.

As I came closer to the vegetation, I couldn't help but grow an uneasy feeling about aimlessly wandering into the forest. It looked tropical, like a rainforest, so I imagined it holding the homes of numerous insects and reptiles that could cause me harm. But with a two-foot tall turtle with a pretty decent speed on my tail, I wondered if anything could be worse.

I hopped over the first group of roots that separated open field from condensed forest. I immediately turned to my right in attempt to start a zigzag pattern to throw the green turtle off.

However, that plan had backfired slightly when I was met with a face full of adhesive string, or silk. I was surprised further from the fact that it had not broken from my impact, but rather I was flung back like I had run into a trampoline. I became dazed from the fall and my senses became rather dull.

But I could make out one sound, a single sound, that I had only heard in movies of science fiction and fantasy: the rapid clicking of mandibles. With as much will as I could muster, I pushed myself onto both feet using the nearby tree as support. I looked left and right for any signs of movement.

The strange thing was that I heard the clicking in all directions, purposefully torturing my eardrums, driving my senses to a near psychiatric state of insanity. My breathing became heavy and my eyes were involuntarily flinching with every loud *click* that penetrated my hearing. I sat down with my back against the large tree and covered my ears as my body began shivering from the madness. I shut my eyes praying to God that this wasn't a dream. And when I opened them, looking to the sky for an immediate answer, I saw it.

A lime-green arachnid, at least 2 feet in diameter, with a thick build like a tarantula, descended from the treetop working its scarlet jaws hungrily as it anticipated its soon-to-be meal. Just the sight of it was intimidating enough to freeze anyone with no trained composure; I guess I was no different. I was immobilized the second I glanced in that direction. Maybe it was just looking death in its eyes again, but I found the movements of its legs and mandibles… almost appealing. The clicking started to fade out; it was just me and the intricate dancer that was slowly falling. I couldn't look away, everything was simply bliss. As if I could ask for nothing else in the world but to continue staring at its dance.

It wasn't until I felt its mandible brush against my nose that I snapped out of my trance and rushed away from the large spider. Looking around as I narrowly escaped my fate I noticed more and more of these arachnids riding their silk down from their world up in the trees. IT was obvious that I couldn't fight them all together, so I ran once again.

I glanced behind me quickly to see if I was being followed. To my dismay, but not to my surprise, they were; and they seemed to be catching up as well. I cursed them as well as my luck. I pushed my endurance and ran faster. Detecting something coming from behind, I altered my direction by shifting to the right slightly. Turns out that these things can jump, and pretty far. It was expectable for spiders of their size, but it was just as, if not more, frightening.

So for the next few moments, I found myself sprinting, leaping, and changing directions every few seconds avoiding their grasp on me. But that didn't seem to stop them in the slightest. The next thingI knew, I felt something hit the back of my left calf, and I tripped, failing to be able to move that leg forward. Looking towards that leg, I discovered a line of thick silk attached to my pants tracing to the depths of the wave of arachnids closing in on me. Using my knife, I cut through the silk, with a little more effort than I predicted, and picked up on my sprint to whatever I could find that was safe.

It was moments later that I heard a deafening shriek from behind, and a dark shadow passed over my head. The sight of a significantly larger spider of orange color landing several meters in front of me stopped me in my tracks. But the incoming mass of smaller green ones prevented any plans of escape. After seeing said mass halt as well, I concluded, obviously, that this large, eight-legged beast was something of an alpha to them. Perhaps a mother to the hundreds of them. It crouched low and moved its head forward, hissing loudly at me, to which the smaller spiders had responded by shooting countless strands of spider silk all over my figure. Some even covering my head. By the end of it all, I was wrapped in a cocoon, immobile and vulnerable.

"Stop! Please!" I pleaded to them all, but it went unheeded. Laying on my back, I was only able to see the alpha slowly creep its way to me while its subordinates continued chittering away in a rhythmic pattern like a chant.

"I mean no harm, just let me go and I'll leave!" I yelled out. The alpha turned its head back and forth as if analyzing my cries, but it continued its assault.

That was when I felt the ground beneath me beginning to shake, and the spider in front of me jumped in shock, looking around in all directions before turning around. But it was too late. Once it had turned around completely, a behemoth of great size and strength slammed its paw down on the arachnid, stunning it enough to allow the beast behind it to slam its forearms continuously until what lay in front of me were the gooey remains of my former threat.

I heard the smaller spiders evacuate the scene of their alpha's gruesome death, but I was still unable to move from the silk that left me immobilized and susceptible to the same fate. Even with my knife in hand, I was stuck. I could only watch as the violet and spined best devoured the soup of the deceased insect.

To the grace of my luck, my claustrophobia caused me to grunt and slightly whimper in strain. This gained the full attention of the beast. It huffed a couple of times and roared as it recognized me.

"Stop!" I shouted when it started lumbering towards me, but it continued. I shouted again, but was stopped when its paw came down and struck me on my body. I wheezed hard from the impact, unable to regain my breath. I was slightly surprised that the silk had been strong enough to absorb most of the initial shock, But I still felt pain from the momentum of its force.

This seemed to enrage it further and it brought another paw down on me. Tears rolled own my face from the pain. The behemoth was relentless; it brought down both paws on me at the same time in effort to break me, but the cocoon saved me again. It swept its paws at my side, knocking me several meters away and I started to become disoriented. I landed on my side against a tree still facing the wrathful presence.

My dizzy spell prevented me from getting a clear picture, but the vibrations in the ground warned me of it closing on my body. I could only get a glimpse of it turning around and raising its six-foot long tail the looked like it was made from stone. I felt the force of gravity increase tenfold for second as it brought its tail down on me. Only this time, I could feel more pain.

Was this my punishment? For what? What have I done to deserve this? For multiple times, I felt the pain increase from its slam until I heard a loud crack and I let out a silent scream. Blood trickled from my nose and mouth and my eyes were puffy from the tears. My vision started to darken.

Was this my true end? Another thump hit my legs and I dry heaved from a sharp pain in my knee. Though I couldn't see well, a could notice a shadow rise over my head as it prepared for its final blow. But it missed.

Instead, it hit the ground in front of me. I wondered if it had done this on purpose… but I was wrong.

It raised its tail again and struck my arms. I felt exhausted from the pain, and I could feel the life being pulled from my body. I guess that this really was the end.

 _Let go…_

But maybe it wasn't. Maybe this was only the beginning of a long eternity filled with similar situations. Hell.

The ground above my head shook again and the behemoth roared again. Through misty eyes, I witnessed the behemoth turning around, but this had allowed me to catch a glimpse of it.

But for one reason or another, I couldn't become angry for what it had started for me. It had pushed down the first domino leading to my fate, yet the only thing on my mind was to hold out a hand: ask for it to save me. At this point, I didn't care if it was God or Satan himself. I was already in hell, what's the worst that could happen at this point.

As the beast raised its paw high in the air, giving of a vibrant glow, I mustered up all the strength I could and called out to the dog.

"Help," I barely whispered. "Help!" I said again, this time at the volume of a normal conversation would be. With the last of my strength, I yelled at the top of my lungs and felt the outer reaches of my mind connect with the dog. It was short, but the feeling was unlike anything I have felt. It was if I had tapped him on the shoulder from so far away.

I closed my eyes from the exhaustion and waited for anything. But it never came.

Twice in my life had my fate been paused on the brink of death, but nothing was frozen, I looked up at the behemoth and saw its eyes widened in what appeared to be shock. The next action it took amazed and confused me. It backed off slightly before it got down on all fours and lowered its head in a bowing-like fashion. It grumbled lowly and I could detect a hint of sorrow in its moan.

In the blink of an eye, the dog appeared almost out of thin air right in front of me. Its eyes were just as wide as the dark-violet beast if not wider. It just stood there. It stood as if it was trying to grasp the situation and how to handle it.

"Please help me," I whimpered the pain. As if it had snapped out of a hypnotic state, it blinked and looked over my body, trying to analyze my injuries. After it seemed like it had completed looking me over, it looked over to its left and seemed to call out to something. I waited and saw it nod.

It then locked out its arms, extending both paws to me. Looking carefully at what it was doing, I was astounded, to say the least, when I saw smoky wisps of blue flow from its paws and into my body. I felt a sharp pain and immediately hissed, but it had disappeared as soon as it had arrived. A feeling of numbness took place in my chest and I wasn't able to tell if I was even breathing. But even then, I did notice my breaths were beginning to stabilize and become deeper and deeper. Oxygen flowed through my body like a drug, revitalizing me from the horror that had took place.

It moved its right paw down my body, still hovering above it, moving to my knees and the same painful and numb sensation took place. With the sound of a pop, my knee had locked back in place. I feebly to move my body, determining I was healthy enough to get back up on my feet, but I was reminded by the confines of my cocoon that I was stuck. The dog seemed to notice this with a raised eyebrow.

"Think you can help me?" I asked it a little sheepishly given the situation. Almost instantly, it dropped both of its eyebrows looking at me with an expression that said 'do it yourself.'

"Oh come on! How do you expect me to get out myself?" It kept the expression and I sighed. "So you can understand me, but you're not gonna do anything, I presume?" This seem to make it happy as it wagged its tail and smiled with close eyes like it was satisfied with my response. 'Fucking dogs,' I thought.

"You there," I asked, with more of a sense of annoyance than caution, the now tame behemoth, "You think you can cut me loose?" I said while I wiggled my body to try and convey the message to him. It simply looked up at me and snarled. "Really? It's the least you can do after trying to _kill_ me." For a moment, the beast growled louder, but seemed to back off whimpering after looking above me.

"You just can't stay from getting yourself hurt, can't you?" a young, condescending, female voice said above me. I turned my neck, cracking a few bones to my pleasure in the process, and looked at a fair-skinned woman in blue jeans, running shoes, and a white t-shirt. I mentally complemented her beautiful figure and looked into her amber eyes that seemed to compliment her golden hair. She was looking at me with a hint of disbelief like a mother listening to her child lie pitifully. I noticed the knife in her hand and attempted to smile to ease the tension.

"Hello there," I said in my best salesman voice to which I cursed myself for doing, "I seem to have run into some trouble a little while ago. It was nothing much, just a fast turtle, a dinosaur, about a hundred large, man-eating spiders, and the dog and large whatever-it-is you see behind me," I scoffed at myself and she seemed to join. "Now, as you can see, I can't move my body and I notice you seem to possess a very finely sharpened knife in your hand so I was wondering if you can be so kind as to cut me loose before I die of claustrophobia?" My smile had gotten wider… and consequently more false by the time my little spiel had ended.

She giggled a little which for the fucking life of me I couldn't figure out why it had made me feel a little happy. "Yes I'll cut the silk, just hang on a second." She crouched down and moved the point of the knife onto my chest with the sharp side of the blade facing my lower body.

"Thank you, ma'am. You have no idea how much it means that you are willing to help me especially with what the past hour of my life has- WHAT THE FUCK!" I yelled out as she picked up the knife and stabbed it into the silk that lay above my upper chest just below my neck. Strange enough, the blade had stopped at the perfect spot to where I could barely feel it touching my chest. "Are you fucking insane?!" I asked her bewildered.

"Hey, no need to be angry, I stopped right before it hit your chest," she said calmly, but I was not reassured.

"It's touching my chest." I deadpanned.

"But did I stab you?" My silence was answer enough as she gave a light 'hmmph' and moved the knife down my body, cutting the silk with superb ease. My heart was beating faster now than it was when I was being slammed by that monster over there. The word 'debatable' popped into my mind and I cursed myself thinking nothing of it but my subconscious trying to communicate to me.

By the time she had finished, a slit was visible in the silk that ran from my neck down to my toes. With the knife I still held in my hand, I reached through the slit, thanking God for the freedom of movement, and put the knife to the small bit of silk that still entrapped my neck within the confines of the web from hell. Once I had cut it open, I sat up, though a large pain in my lower back had ceased my hopes of standing up on my own.

Looking towards the girl, I saw her hand raised out to me in attempt to help. She still held the blade in her hand which made me wary of her, but the smile on her face was just so… genuine that I could help but feel a sense of honesty coming from her offer. With my non-wielding hand, I took hers and she helped me up to my feet. When I realized that my legs were still a little tender from the attack, she threw my arm over her neck to support me.

"Come on, let's go back home."

The dog and beast left us, each in separate directions. It took a while for me to stop feeling the rumbles in the ground from the latter's heavy trudging.

 _Home_. What did that word even mean anymore? I lost my home the minute those agents busted into my house. Or did I lose it earlier than that? Thinking about this so suddenly, my expression lowered to that of contemplation. As I walked through the tropical forest, not knowing what direction we were headed or where and what her home was, I continued my concentration on my current situation.

I felt like I had been placed in a movie. I had no idea where I was, no clue to what was going on, and worst of all: I was attacked by creatures unknown to mankind. It was like someone had put me into the world of King Kong and forgot to tell me about it. But all of this? From falling off a cliff? This had to be a dream. A very long and dangerous dream.

"This isn't a dream," the girl spoke suddenly. _How the fuck…_

"I wasn't thinking that," I replied instantaneously. "I was just-"

"You were closing and opening your eyes to check if you were awake. Were you not?"

I looked at her in complete astoundment. I don't even remember doing that, only thinking about it. She looked at me and giggled again.

"The look on your face… I'm guessing you were doing it without even knowing."

I chuckled a little bit knowing that was probably the truth. "I'm guessing you're right." The force from the small laugh caused little pain to my side, however.

I started thinking again. Over an hour ago, I woke up from a god-knows-how-long nap. Now I'm being helped back to some stranger's house. Sure she was a little pretty, but I should know her a little more before I trust… before I accept her assistance fully.

"I'm terribly sorry for the trouble I've caused. So before I say anything else I want to thank you for your help miss-"

"Melanie," she responded without missing a beat. I was a little thrown off from the speed, but I wasn't over all shocked.

"You got a last name?"

"Nope. It's just Melanie," she replied looking at me through the side of her eyes, still smiling.

"Huh… Well then 'Melanie,' thank you for your help. My name is-"

"Michael Blake, born twelve, two, one-thousand nine-hundred and ninety-five."

I held out my hand as I stopped, forcing her to stop as well. "How-"

"There was a card in your wallet," she spoke softly, looking at me worriedly. But how did she find my real name of all the fake IDs in there? "I assumed that was your-"

"There were many cards in that wallet," I interrupted. "Fake identification cards. What makes you think that _that_ one was my name?" This could go two ways. Either she would be convinced that she made a mistake, and I could go under an alias until I figure out what the hell is going on, or she deliberately went through the trouble of finding out which one was real: in which case I would have to be more careful around her. I intended to find out the latter.

"The one with your real name on it was much older than the others. I assume that you roughed up the fake ones in order to share a similar look. But your real card had more genuine wear on it."

There was a bit of silence as I thought about her statement. It was true I treated those cards like shit for about a week. But for her to be able to tell such a subtle, almost invisible, difference… picking out tiny anomalies isn't something of a talent: that skill is trained into ones conscious and subconscious. I looked at her with cautious eyes.

"Who do you work for." She looked at me, obviously confused.

"No one. What brought that up?" I threw her hand off me and limped towards a nearby tree, facing her while clutching my side, and let silence ensue for a bit.

"From what I could tell, you seem to be a very observant person. Pardon my paranoia, but don't expect me to just let you get away with being able to distinguish genuine from artificial like it was almost nothing to you."

She scoffed and looked at me with false hurt in her eyes. "Well, pardon _my_ manners for wanting to know your name so I won't be rude in the future. And to be honest, it _was_ 'nothing' to tell them apart. Don't take any offense, but you did a poor job on trying to make them all look similar…"

"Answer my question," I interrupted, more than pissed off at her changing the subject, "Who do you work for? CIA? Russia? United Kingdom? China? You already know who I am and what I've done so there's no more hiding what you are planning to do to me!" I gripped my knife more firmly in anger as well as preparation.

"Who- what are you talking about?" she asked, now looking completely lost and almost worried. I wasn't fooled.

"Don't play stupid with me, you obviously work for one country or another. Your reasons I don't know, but I won't be a part of whatever game your employers are placing me in. _WHO do you work for!_ " I yelled getting in a semi-battle ready stance. I winced from the pain, but I stood ready. She began glaring daggers at me and I felt an uneasy atmosphere rising from the tension.

"I. Don't. Work. For. Anyone."

…

"Where am I?" I asked more calmly, but still cautious. Melanie replied in the same way.

"A small island south of the mainland." My eyes twitched. I was ready to kill this girl of annoyance more than self-defense. Slowly, but clearly, I spoke.

"Look, ma'am, I am getting really, fucking pissed off at your avoidance of my questions. If you can, just try to imagine me as someone who is completely lost in his situation. Forget me asking you of your employers; I want you to tell me clearly and accurately, where the hell am I. I want country names, continent names, grid coordinates, latitude and longitude, the season, the month, the year, the population. I want to know _everything._ "

If her eyes could rip my soul apart, they just did. I almost had to look away submissively. They then closed as she sighed. When they opened, she looked at me with tenderness.

"I apologize for putting you through this trouble. But with all my heart and honesty, I only know your name. I don't know who you are exactly nor what you say you've 'done.' Look," she said coming closer with an extended hand, "Let's go back to the house. I'll try to fix you up as best as I can and I'll tell you everything you want to know as long as I actually know the answer. Granted I'll only do so as long as you share with me your story. From the looks of it, you have some things you'd like to get off your chest." I looked down at the ground. "I'll listen to everything you have to say; just trust in me."

"I don't know if I can just trust anyone," I said still staring down.

"You have an ability right? A gift?" I looked up at her with wide eyes. I wondered with great curiosity where she was going with this. I nodded. "Then trust in that. Just look at me and tell me what your gift tells you."

I did so with great concentration on her face. I tried to read it to see any signs of dishonesty, but I wasn't feeling whatever 'gift' she was mentioning. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. As I exhaled, I opened my eyes and, however it was done, my heart, and I saw perhaps the most amazing thing my eyes had laid upon.

Around her figure were thick, golden wisps, like the sun's rays reflecting off of her. They were branching out, but to me notice, only to me. I outstretched my hand to one of them wanting to make contact so badly. When I did, a feeling of purity washed over me. I felt strength, will, care, pity, admiration; I felt all of these emotions and characteristics all at once like I was being baptized, like I had become renewed. I didn't know it yet, but my eyes began tearing up as I felt her presence, her _spirit_ , touch mine. I retracted my hand and blinked a few times, but as I did, for a split-second the wisps formed around her with two spikes protruding from her sides, and they all disappeared together. When I looked at her face, I noticed that she was crying, I couldn't help, after what had just happened, but to feel utter pity for her.

"Melanie," I asked. She walked up to me fast and wrapped her arms around me.

I had no idea what was going on at the moment. In the span of two, maybe three hours, I had been beaten down to the brink of death, and now this beautiful woman, whom I just met, was hugging me, crying after what I had just done. Was this painful to her? No, if it was, she wouldn't be doing this.

"What's the matter?" I asked while wrapping my arms around her to soothe her worries.

"You… you have so much… pain." I sort of chuckled inside from the obviousness of the statement and decided to be sarcastic at the wrong time.

"Well, I was just mauled by a monster-hmmph!" She punched my side, causing me intense discomfort.

"That's not what I meant, idiot. Your emotions. You've gone through so much pain in life. When we connected, I felt them rush over me, and I couldn't help but cry."

Now I realized that what she meant wasn't physical pain, but emotional – mental – pain. I wondered what she meant by connection. Actually, I wondered about a lot of things. I wondered about where I was and what had happened after I had died. I wondered about the serum and its aftereffects. I wondered about those damned monsters that grudged me. And I wondered about her: Melanie. When I felt her presence in those wisps, she was so pure, so caring. I pondered as we began walking back to the house about how a human can be so good-hearted. At first glance, you would think she was like a regular person with her own self-interest and preservation. But that isn't what I felt – goddamn it I _felt_ it – just a moment ago from her.

I wanted to learn my current situation in the world, and what was going on with my brother, wherever that bastard is. But now, I want to learn more about this island, those creatures, my 'gift,' and her. When we arrived at the house, I stopped walking. Melanie looked at me with those caring eyes again.

"Is there something wrong?"

I just continued staring at the structure, wondering if I should really trust this stranger.

 _Let go._ That gut feeling rose again, telling me what I needed to hear.

I smiled, "No, let's keep going," I said. I'll see if I could trust her.

* * *

 **a/n**

 **Already the second chapter. Like I said before, it was a little rushed, but everything I wanted to have happen in this chapter happened so I'm content with it so far.**

 **Flashbacks of Michaels past will be an ongoing thing, maybe one every couple of chapters. They'll just focus on Michael's life growing up and getting him to where he is now.**

 **Again, I appreciate any compliments or suggestions that better the quality of the story.**

 **Chapter 3: Pocket Monsters**


	3. Pocket Monsters

**I do not own Pokemon**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Pocket Monsters**

"Fuck!"

"I'm sorry, but please hold still."

"The fuck I will! Be a little gentler will ya?"

"Maybe if you held still, I could-"

"FUCK!"

"Rauraurauraurau."

"Quit laughing you little cunt, how would you like it to be in this kind pain?!"

"RAURAURAURAU!"

"Just let him be will you?"

"He's mocking my pain! Give me my knife, I'll show him what real pain is!"

I know Melanie's trying to help, but everything was still very tender from that monstrosity's mauling. Even trying to put compression bandages around my chest brought forth intense pain. But I guess I had to suck it up; I mean, she did promise to tell me everything I needed to know after she fixed me up. But I swear I cannot stand that fucking mutt.

"Well now you know what happens when you anger a Nidoking."

Whoa, whoa, whoa… slow down there for a second…

"What did you just say?"

"I said, 'now you know what happens when you anger a Nidoking…'"

"Alright, stop right there," I said, partially interrupting her. "Nidoking? That's what that thing was called?" I asked her, incredulous to her words.

"Yes, now stay still while I finish up my work." As she continued, I drifted off to my infamous land of contemplation.

I swear I've heard that name before, but where and when I wasn't too sure of. It sounded like something from my childhood; but of course, who the hell remembers those days anyways?

"Alright, it's done," she said, sighing at her completed work. "Now don't overexert yourself or those bandages will come off and you'll be in worse pain then you are now."

"Why don't you make me," I mumbled under my breath. But for some godforsaken reason…

"That will be his job," she said nodding her head in the mutt's direction.

"WHAT?!"

"RAU?!"

"Yes," she spoke, unmoved by our cries of shock and hurt, "Riolu will be watching over you until you heal completely, as determined by yours truly," she said this with a cheery smile that somehow threatened to give me chills.

"I'm _not_ gonna be babysat by a tiny mutt that'll attack me whenever it wants!"

"Raurau rau rauraurau raurau rau!" the mutt barked at her.

"Yeah what he said!" I blindly agreed. She looked at me with a deadpanned expression.

"He said, and I quote, 'I'm not going to babysit a dumb, useless vegetable that can't even defend himself. Furthermore, I feel insulted and offended that you give me such a repulsive and tedious task that which tests not only my limits in temperament, but also reduces my intelligence from simply standing next to his presence.'"

I looked between her and the dog, mouth agape, astounded by the translation.

"Putting aside the insults I'll address later, you got all of _that_ from just a few barks?"

"Aurau!" the mutt yipped happily as if answering my question to intentionally piss me off.

"Shut up mutt I wasn't asking you!" I barked at him to which he responded in growling.

"Are you two infants?" Melanie asked us with crossed arms.

"Well this bastard started it by attacking me! If it weren't for him being such a dick, I probably wouldn't be hurting-"

"Just stop, please?" She asked giving me perhaps the most – oh I'm going to kill myself for saying this – adorable look I could ever see. With as much pride as I could muster, I just huffed and turned my head away from the mutt.

Melanie pulled up a chair to the table and sat down with a three blue drinks in her hand. She offered one to each of us and I carefully took it, inspecting it to find anything that might have been put inside.

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just a little oran-juice. It's good and it will help your injuries heal faster," she reassured with a smile on her face.

"Well, I'm pretty sure my situation can't get any worse… so… cheers," I said as I raised my glass up. But what surprised me was the lost look on her face when I did so.

"Cheers?"

"You don't know what a toast is?" I asked her, almost not believing her myself. Who the hell didn't know what a toast was? Little girls and their tea parties had toasts. TV had toasts. Was this woman really devoid of any human interaction. She shook her head. I looked over at the mutt… Riolu or whatever his name was, and he looked at me in the same way… except for the fact he looked at me like I was retarded or something.

I sighed. "Well, where I come from, whenever we wanted to give thanks, celebrate, or just commemorate anyone or anything, we would have a drink in our hands, raise those drinks up, someone would give the toast, and we would touch our glasses like so," I clinked my glass against hers for visual representation, "and then take a drink to cherish and celebrate the moment."

She looked to understand and, with a small smile on my face, I thought I would take it a bit further.

"Though, in the military, we would usually have shots of hard liquor instead of normal drinks and we would get fucked up beyond belief… usually to forget the hard week of work we had just gotten through," I sheepishly reassured at seeing her expressionless face. I mean, I wasn't lying.

"Well then," she began, "what should we commemorate?" I thought for a bit and decided.

"A toast, to a handsome man meeting and being saved by a beautiful lady."

"rau rau," Riolu muttered quietly.

"That's judgment, Riolu," Melanie retorted. I looked between the two suspiciously.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He said 'as handsome as my droppings,'" she told me, looking slightly annoyed at the mutt's antics. I simply looked at him with unimpressed eyes while he sat there wagging his tail like he was the happiest fucking mutt in the world.

"Well," she started, "Thank you for the compliment. Cheers!" she smiled as we clinked our glasses together. As soon as I caught sight of the dog reaching his glass towards ours, I broke the toast and started drinking the juice. Not before saying, "Fuck you, mutt."

He growled and I chuckled and started drinking. I was impressed to find that it was simply orange juice with a blue hue. I honestly would be surprised at this if not for the events that had occurred the past 13 hours of my conscious life.

As Melanie finished her sip of the drink, she set the glass down and began to answer my questions.

"Alright, so what do you want to know first?" she asked. I pondered on what to discuss as I swirled the blue fluid around inside the glass. There was quite a bit to talk about. Where I was, how I got here, who she is, what exactly that blue-furred devil was, and what those other monsters were. Also, this gift she kept talking about. I guess…

"I guess I should start off with something simple. I would ask where I am, but finding out how you found me would be a little more appropriate.

"Good reasoning," she said. "Well, I was walking through a forest about a month ago-"

"A MONTH?" I shouted, bewildered by the length of time I had been out. "I've been in a coma for a month?!"

She just looked at me, daring me to interrupt her again. "Sorry, please continue," I apologized.

"Thank you, and yes it was a month ago…"

[FLASHBACK]

 _{Melanie's POV}_

 _About a month ago, I walked through the rainforests of Hoenn looking for fruits to pick to take back home to the cabin. The soil back on the island wasn't rich enough to support the cultivation of many fruit-bearing trees, so I had to make a stop here every once in a while to resupply myself._

 _This area of the region was for the most part humid and was always, if not most of the time, raining. Day and night rainwater, gathered from the lakes and rivers throughout the land, fell onto the rainforest, bringing with it nutrients that filled the ground with everlasting health for plants and fruits._

 _When it came time for me to harvest, I travelled with Meganium to a part of the rainforest where I hide my cart. Meganium would pull the cart and we would walk through the trees picking fruits anywhere we could find them._

 _I had already picked orans, nanabs, nomels, and pechas and was on my way to pick some cherris when I looked to the wet ground under my feet and noticed it was red in color, the trickles of rain flowing downstream behind me. Immediately, I took this as a bad sign and followed the red trail upstream until I found a body._

 _Quickly, I rushed to that person, you, and checked to see if you were still alive. You were… but you were unconscious and bleeding from your side. I assumed that you had been struck by the knife of someone or possibly an evil creature, so I worried that if I left you or took you to a hospital that they would find out you were alive and return to kill you._

 _I couldn't bear to let that happen, so I took the liberty of taking you with me, with the help of a friend of mine, back to the island. I treated you every day since then. I checked your veins, treated your wounds, bathed you, and kept you alive until…"_

[FLASHBACK END]

{Michael's POV}

"…until you woke up today," she ended with a sigh as she summarized the events of my unconsciousness. Though, I don't ever recall Montana being referred to as "Hoenn."

"So I've been unconscious for a month… I guess that makes sense after falling into the base of a waterfall."

"Waterfall?" She looked at me with interest, egging me to explain.

"Well the river took me downstream so the waterfall probably wasn't in sight, but yeah I fell… I was dropped off of a waterfall." She held her gaze at me, though this was the face of doubt.

"I didn't find you near a river," she explained.

"So do you think I as just dragged by someone, or something, and left to just rot?" I asked. Where I was found didn't really matter to me: I'm alive is what counts. But that natural, human urge to know and understand everything took over my common sense. Or worse: my ability to not give a…

"They must have had an important reason to drag you that far away from the nearest river. But to just give up after that long?" She hummed and pondered as she bit her lower lip in concentration. "Are you sure you fell off of a waterfall?"

Hearing this forced my past to come back and haunt me. I pounded the table as images of Morty and Matthew raced through my mind. Unable to stop the flow of memories, I shut my eyes and just let them run their course. My breaths became heavier and my arms trembled with every second that passed by. Seeing their faces, simply catching the sight of Matthew's face, was more than enough to make me want to strangle anything within reach. When I opened my eyes, I looked at her, pissed off at such a question. "Yes," I answered rather harshly, "I remember _everything_ that happened to me that day. To me, it seemed like it was only 12 hours ago that I was abandoned by _him_!" I said raising my voice.

She looked frightened, then conflicted, and then she had those worrying eyes.

"Who…"

"Look Melanie," I spoke, softer than previously while staring at the ground, "Some bad shit happened to me a month ago, I guess if your correct, that really changed my outlook on people. I'm sorry for lashing out at you a few times, but I have very good reason to do so." I looked at her again, she appeared to be pitying me. If I didn't respect her at all I would reach over and slap her for daring to look at me like that. I didn't need anyone else's sorrow. This was my problem, not theirs; I should be the one in pain here.

But then again, she did save my life. Whatever God had planned for me; this girl was now involved in it too. In my current status in the US, I'm sure that anyone even attempting to aid me would suffer the same fate. I couldn't let that happen to her. She was innocent of everything; she only wanted to help. And now I've dragged her into this. The least I could do was explain to her my… _our_ situation and hope we find a plan out of it. I sighed. But to do that…

"Listen, I'll tell you everything, every little detail, that wound me up here with you. But first, I need you to tell me where I am. Anything that I can easily understand, like a map, if I can't understand your verbal explanation of where I am. If you can do that, I can understand my current situation a little better and where to move on from here. And then I'll tell you my story." She smiled and nodded at my conclusion. With that, she excused herself and went somewhere in the house, looking for something I believed, leaving me alone with the mutt.

"Rau?" I shut my eyes in annoyance of the bastard. "If you wanted to say something to me, you should have said it when Melanie was here. I can't, and _wouldn't_ want to, translate whatever insulting message you have to say to me. I have enough on my mind, I don't need to add you in with the chaos." I heard him huff in response and I smiled, enjoying a little piece and quiet for the first time in a few hours.

And then I felt him kneading the side of my calf like a damned kitten. Sighing from realizing he wouldn't stop, I opened my eyes and turned to him to give him a glare that would convince him to stop, or at least try to.

But it wasn't Riolu kneading my leg, it was just an Eevee that seemed to be fascinated in the fabric of the jeans I was wearing. "Oh, it's just an Eevee," I deadpanned before returning to my resting position. I then looked back at it. Then straight forward.

Then the Eevee.

Then straight forward.

Then Riolu, who looked confused.

Straight forward.

Eevee.

Forward.

Riolu.

Eevee.

Riolu.

Eevee.

Forward. I took in a deep breath, and held it as I thought carefully about my next words. Meanwhile, the cat was still pawing away at my jeans. I looked over to Riolu and said, "Say Riolu," He perked his head in moderate attention, "Melanie wouldn't happen to have any alcohol here would she?" He just simply turned his head to the side with an eyebrow raised. "You know, a drink that tastes bitter, but makes you dizzy after drinking enough of it." I hoped that this was a simple enough explanation for the king of assholes, and it seemed to work. He sighed, dismounted his chair, and left to go find the sacred liquid.

Meanwhile, I just stared at the little guy pawing my leg like it was its favorite toy. The sight made me chuckle, which turned into a couple of loud laughs, which transformed into hysterical laughing. Every spasm hurt my ribs, but I just couldn't take it anymore. This had to be a dream. There was no way, no FUCKING way, that I was seeing a Pokémon with my own eyes. Now I could have mistaken it for a different species of fox or feline, but for me to notice it only as the actual pokemon, distinguished mainly by the puff of cream-colored fur around its neck, was just the icing on the cake of lies.

Now I remember where I've seen that Nidoking and Meganium before. And those spiders too. It was all too great, knowing that I was still asleep dreaming of all these monsters. I guess I fell asleep during my meditation. I knew Matthew wouldn't do anything to betray me.

Melanie came back in the room with Riolu holding a map and a bottle of a yellowish-green liquid. I was still laughing when they entered causing Melanie to look at me worriedly.

"Um, Riolu said you needed some Aguav juice?" I couldn't breathe at the moment so I held my hand out to her asking her to give me the bottle. Meanwhile, the Eevee stopped its actions and ran over to Melanie, squealing in delight. "Oh hello Eevee," she greeted.

When she handed the bottle over, I grabbed it hastily, popped the cork, and downed as much as I could. True to my request, it was very bitter. Even better, it had a little bit of spice added to it that tasted like cinnamon. I had a rough time swallowing the alcohol because of the thickness and hardness of it, but every ounce brought me relief knowing that I would be drunk in a matter of minutes. When then last, burning drop was gone, I tossed the bottle behind me and caught my breath.

"Whoo! You know," I told Melanie, "I thought that I've already seen enough weird shit here, but seeing that," motioning to Eevee, "Oh man, seeing a Pokemon just draws the line… No, I take that back. _That_ little fucker there draws the line," I said pointing to Riolu, " _THAT_ little _Eevee_ goes WAY over that line!"

I realized I made a mistake of some sort when Riolu jumped from his position and landed on my lap, grabbing my shirt with one hand while holding a blue orb of light in the other. Reacting from habit, I took the orb from his hand and threw him off of me, readying myself to throw it at him if he made another move.

"You take one step, and this goes between your eyes," I threatened, ignoring the pain from my injuries. His eyes were wide in shock and fear. I had him right where I wanted him.

"Michael!" Melanie exclaimed, "What are you doing?!" I turned my head to her, a frightening smile on my face.

"I've had it. I want an explanation of why there are Pokemon on this island," I said.

"What are you talking about," she asked, anger evident on her face.

"I'm talking about Eevee! I'm talking about Riolu! I'm talking about that dinosaur, turtle, those spiders, and that goddamned NIDOKING that almost KILLED ME!"

I noticed Riolu moving in the corner of my eye and I threw the sphere at him. But to my surprise, it dissipated as soon as it made contact, and he lunged at me. I swung with my right hand towards him, but before I could strike him, Riolu became suspended in mid-air, immobilized completely. My swing missed and I fell to the ground. The injuries and liquor caught up to me, causing me pain and a headache. I looked towards the three while clutching my head and noticed that Melanie's eyes were glowing gold in color.

I knew immediately that this was her doing. Again, images of Morty and his estranged gauntlet came back to me, and I was immobilized too, but from PTSD instead of Melanie.

"So you hate them too?" She asked, her voice lacking any emotion at all. She took a step towards me and I backed up without leaving the ground.

"I never said I hated them! But they haven't really done me any good since I woke up!" I explained, hoping that her expressionless being would end. But she just kept walking towards me. Sensing trouble, I stood up and ran to the door and was met with a strike, presumably Riolu's orb, as soon as it had opened. I flew out the door. Grounded again, I turned to look at all of them and Melanie was still continuing her slow assault. Her eyes were still glowing, but Riolu was able to move, proven by him holding an orb in his hand while he walked just as slow.

"So you hate them," she stated. "I thought that you would be different." When she stepped outside, her long hair began floating like she was in water. And I thought I had been afraid before, she was the pure image of horror. "But you're still the same as the rest of _them_."

"What are you talking about?!" I shouted, begging for explanation.

 _"_ _HUMANS!"_ She screamed. I winced at the shrillness of her voice. But I noticed that her mouth hadn't even moved. _"You're all the same no matter where you come from! Hoenn! Kanjoh! Unova! Everywhere it's the same! You're all an ungrateful species, blinded by fear of our kind no matter how much we care to prove you wrong! No matter how much we help!"_

"Your ki-?" I tried asking.

 _"_ _Any chance you get you kill us without a single drop of remorse!"_

Golden, bird-like wings sprouted from her back, expanding to a wingspan about 15 feet long.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" As I tried to stand up, Riolu released his orb, pushing me back down, and he charged another one in a matter of seconds.

Her wings then crossed above her. In a swift action and a small burst of light, they flung down and outwards. As they passed in front of her, her form changed in an instant. Her head was no longer human. She had the head of a bird mixed with a snake. She had no beak, but feathers dressed her head and neck. It was predominantly white with gold covering her forehead and a white pentagon in the center. Her ears looked like long feathers that extended from each side of the top of her head. Her eyes had turned to a green hue and her jawline widened, almost separating the lower part of her head.

As her wings lowered, her neck was revealed to be long and covered in white feathers. Her form widened as her body was revealed. The base of her neck, where it met her chest, was bulky with muscle. The white feathers separated down her sides, ending in a converged point on each side. On those sides were her arms: the upper arm was white while its lower half, conjoined to the former by a thin limb, was golden with clawed hands that would make cutting wood an easy job. The majority of her round body was filled with golden feathers with a teal outline of a triangle on her chest. Her legs, or what were legs, were now short, golden stubs that branched in feathers like a bird's tail.

In that moment… no, when she held Riolu in place with just her gaze, I knew she was a Pokemon. Now it was confirmed; the shape of her true form were just as I remembered from before, although she held a different color. She was a… damn it I just can't remember what it was called. It was in one of those movies with that guy… Ash! That was _his_ name. But her name was a blur.

"You… you're one of them!" I stated, still frozen in fear. She inched toward me, hovering above the ground

 _"_ _I was a fool to believe you could be different, that you even had a shred caring for our kind. I cared for your health. I saved you from Nidoking. But you still hate us."_ She opened her draconic mouth and screeched like an eagle crossed with a lion loudly enough that anyone within a 5-mile radius could hear her.

"W-what are you gonna do to me?" I asked with no trace of courage left in me. She was strictly terrifying. She wasn't cute or soft like the movie had portrayed. Then again, based on my experience with those spiders and Nidoking, the world I'm in now was much less forgiving than the show they put on television. This was just like the regular world. They could kill us easily when they wanted to. And they could die just as easily given the right ordinance.

 _"_ _I've been far to kind to you. Saving you from death was a mistake."_ She paused to open her mouth and charge a ball of light just outside of her jaw. From here, it looked like she was vacuuming in any light she could gather within her vicinity. _"I'm going to atone for my mistake…"_

"BUI!" I heard coming from inside the house. I glanced over and saw that fragile, little Eevee running towards me as fast as it could. Coming between the two of us, it faced off toward Melanie in a defensive posture. As soon as she caught sight of the little fox, her light dissolved and she looked worriedly at Eevee.

 _"_ _Eevee, get out of the way,"_ she spoke, calmer this time.

"Buii!" the brown fox said in rebellion. It didn't take a translation from Melanie to know that this little guy was trying to protect me. But for whatever reason, I didn't know why he wanted to.

 _"…_ _ **dad**_ _…"_

I looked around, confused at whose voice that was. It sounded like a child's cry, but was as vague as an echo.

 _"_ _He hates our kind, Eevee,"_ Melanie said.

 ** _"_** ** _dad…"_**

There it was again! It wasn't Melanie. No way in hell would it be Riolu. And there was no one else around us as I looked.

 _'_ _Could it… perhaps be a memory?'_ I asked myself.

 _"_ _You're not… serious… are you?"_ I heard Melanie asking. I looked to the Eevee.

 _'_ _Maybe-'_

"Bui!" It yipped at Melanie.

I heard her and Riolu sigh in unison. Riolu left to the house somewhat in a fit while Melanie stayed outside. She brought her wings in front of her and raised them up, changing her appearance in the blink of an eye. Her wings folded behind her back without any trace they were even there.

Things were silent for a while. At first, I thought I had enough questions on my mind concerning where I am and why I'm here. But now…

"Umm, I don't know where to begin," I nervously said.

"…" She just stared at Eevee, who was at the moment sitting down returning the stare.

"I don't hate them," I stated rising to my feet. This gained Melanie's attention. "I never did."

"Then how do you explain your attitude towards them back in the house?" She questioned.

"It's not the fact that I despised them, I was just caught off guard at seeing them. Actually… for a moment, for a couple of seconds back in the house, I wanted nothing more than to eliminate them from my sight. Their presence just added insult to me; they threatened me the possibility that I was still unconscious."

"Why would you think such a thing?" She asked her anger returning briefly.

"Because they were never meant to be real!" I answered a little louder than I had planned. "How could animals from a children's game exist on an uncharted island like this?"

"But they're everywhere in the world; not just this island," she retorted. I lost my breath for a moment when she finished that sentence. Pokemon? Real? There was no way it could happen. And across the globe to add to that? "Michael," she called out to me softly, "Come inside, it's getting dark out." I hadn't realized yet until she mentioned it, but dusk had indeed begun its arrival. I looked towards the west, towards the sunset.

I couldn't remember the last time I've seen one, nor the last time I was able to enjoy it for what it was worth. Feeling the golden rays hit my face as a gentle breeze blew by, I closed my eyes in peace seeing the end of day in a new light.

When my little moment had finished, I followed Melanie into the house while Eevee followed me. I picked up the empty bottle of what was once liquor and set it down on a nearby counter. We all returned to our respective seats and Melanie unrolled the map she had brought along. While she was orienting it for me to best understand it, Eevee had jumped up on my lap and hunkered down to take a nap.

My hand naturally went down to pet and scratch its head, earning me a thankful purr from the little fox.

"Alright Michael," Melanie said, returning my attention to the situation at hand, "This is the map of Hoenn." When I gazed upon the map, my eyes widened. If I had to take an estimated guess, I'd say this map was about 5 feet by four feet. It displayed a massive island decorated by mountainous terrain, forests, and smaller isles surrounding it. It contained roads, paths, caves, cities down to the number of buildings. I was surprised at the amount of detail was put into this map. Yet, it was particularly aged with wrinkles and tears along the edges.

"Where did you get this map? A pirate?" I asked jokingly, though again, she seemed to not understand the reference.

"I made it," she deadpanned. I was amazed.

"Where did you find the time to make this? Looks like you have a knack for this kind of thing."

"I had a lot of time on my hands… a couple hundred years I would say," she said, answering my next question. Now I would ask what her secret was, but she kind of showed me earlier on not so friendly terms.

All I could say was, "Oh…"

"Yep. Now the nearest regions to the east of Hoenn are Kanjoh and Sinnoh. We are right here," she said, pointing to a miniscule islet to the south of the 'mainland.'

"How large is the island?"

"About 12 kilometers in diameter."

'Alright, that gives me a rather 'big' idea of how large this Hoenn region is.

"Now that I think about, I think I remember this region playing one of the games," I said to myself.

"What region are you from?" She asked rather inquisitively. I looked to her and wondered if I should tell her everything. If I should tell her what happened to me before I ended up here. Should I trust her and spill it? Or should I remain cautious and lie?

"You think it's a good idea to lie to a dragon?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Of course I was surprised she had read my mind, but I had to just accept the fact that everything around this girl was going to be strange. Back to the subject: she had a good point. And besides…

If I'm talking to a human/dragon in the world of Pokémon, I have little room in my heart to believe that anyone in this world knows what I 'did.'

"Alright, I'm about to tell you something important," I said seriously. "Know that I'm placing a large amount of trust in you just by telling you this… you too, Mutt," I teased to the dog's displeasure.

"Well, what is it?" She asked with little patience. I took a deep breath and began my story by saying, "I'm not from this world."

I told her everything that led me up to here. I told her about my life as a soldier. I told her about Pokemon actually being a video game in my world instead of a real-life phenomenon. I reluctantly told her about my parents' deaths. I told her about my framing and my betrayal. And I told her about the injection and the aftermath in that little clearing.

All the while I was talking, Melanie and Riolu listened attentively appropriately commenting their thoughts or barks during each portion. Even little Eevee woke up from its nap and nuzzled my chest when I was talking about my parents and my brother.

They actually seemed kind of bewildered when I mentioned about the idea of Pokemon from my world. I went into depth about the basic gameplay of each game; how the player would journey throughout the region they were in and capture Pokemon in their little balls. Then raise those Pokemon to be strong and defeat all the trainers in the game; even taking down criminal organizations.

When I had finished with everything, I gave a big sigh and rubbed my head, exhausted from the long story. I looked down to notice Eevee sleeping once again. God the little fella did look kinda cute like that. That's when I heard a yawn coming from Mutt, signifying his tiredness. Melanie seemed to notice this as well.

"Alright Riolu, it's time for you and Eevee to go to sleep," She said as calm as a mother. Kinda makes me miss mine.

"Rau rauRauraurau," Riolu barked in a drowsy voice. Melanie just smiled.

"Well if you don't take Eevee with you and go to sleep, then I guess you wouldn't mind watching over Michael for an extra week…"

"NO!"

"RAU!" He yelped. Immediately, but gracefully, I removed Eevee from my lap and handed him over to Riolu, who took him ever-so carefully.

Quietly, I whispered, "Don't ruin this for the both of us." He simply nodded with a small yip and tip-toed his way off into the depths of the house.

Meanwhile, I noticed Melanie giggled from our interaction. I simply glared at her while she put on an 'I'm innocent' smile. This couldn't' help but make me chuckle as well. It was nice, being able to laugh along with someone else. I sighed and thought for a moment.

"…Chance," I said.

"What?" Melanie asked, confused.

"You should give him a name, the Eevee. It'd be easy to mistake him for others if you don't give him a unique name… I was thinking something along the lines of 'Chance.'"

"Why is that?"

"I just told you why," I answered with a laugh.

"I meant, why 'Chance?'" she looked at me in wonder. It wasn't really too much depth or mystery into why I would call him that.

"Oh, because he gave me a chance. You know… when you were all… dragon-lady before," I said whirling my hand in gesture to her. I made sure to smile because my speech teacher said smiling eases tension. Just kidding, I smiled because I didn't want her to kill me as a dragon-lady.

She chuckled when I said that. Knowing she did that eased me a little.

"I'm sorry about that," she said solemnly.

"It's alright, you didn't kill me so everything's fine," I said, trying to comfort her a little.

"No, you don't understand. I wasn't supposed to show you that." Hearing this made me look at her in question. "It was supposed to be a secret between me and the rest of my kind. Showing it to you means that you now have the burden of keeping that secret."

"Well when you put it like that I feel like _I'm_ the one who should be apologizing."

"You don't have to do that. It was my fault for even showing it to you. I became blinded by rage and lost control of myself. I don't exactly have the _best_ history with my encounters with human's," she said with sorrow.

I hate it when people are depressed.

"…You wanna… _taco_ 'bout it?" I asked with puppy dog eyes.

"What?" She replied with utter loss. This is gonna be tougher than I thought.

"This is when you say, 'It's _nacho_ problem.' Go on, say it," I encouraged.

"…It's not your problem?" I sighed.

"No, you got say _nacho._ Like it's one word. Try it!"

"Iiiit's _nacho_ problem?" she said, trying to see if she had done so correctly.

"Well sorry for being _jalapeno_ business," I said followed by a hearty laugh. But her face just took all the fun away. "Oh come on, don't be such a kill-joy. It was a joke," I said with reassurance.

Hearing this finally made her laugh… I'm talking about a single laugh. Like one huff of soul that says, 'Ah I get it now.' Though even with that measly excuse of a chuckle, her face still resumed its somber attitude.

"I still could've killed you," she said.

"But you didn't," I replied with a grin.

"I _would have_ killed you."

"…But you didn't," I said with a noticeably larger grin than before. She sighed in a huff of mixed anger and amusement, which led me to continue. "Don't focus on the past too much. If you keep your eyes on what could've happened, what would've happened, or what should've happened, then you'll forget what did happen and become lost within the confines of your own paradigms."

Her brows were furrowed, telling me she didn't understand word I had just said." *sigh, * Alright let me dumb down the philosopher in me a bit. Pretend you're walking along a road and you notice a pothole. Once you carefully step around it, you have one of two immediate choices. You can either look back and wonder what would happen if you hadn't seen it beforehand, or you can keep your eyes in front of you and watch for any other potholes."

" Oh okay," she responded. "But one question…"

"Shoot," I permitted.

"What's a pothole?"

"Jesus fucking Christ," I mumbled under my breath. "I know I'm from another world but this is insane… do you at least get the idea?" She nodded. "Good, then there's no more explanation," I finished with a pseudo-cheery grin.

After a moment of silence, I spoke up.

"Going backwards a little bit, what _did_ happen that made you hate humans?"

The question itself was innocent to my understanding, but evidently it had seemed to open a wound when I asked. She immediately stood up and walked outside, leaving me alone at the table with nothing but my thoughts.

"Always the popular one with the ladies," I softly spoke to myself. "Ghhaaa! Why does everything have to be so goddamned glum around here!?" I exclaimed quietly as to not awaken the Eevee and his asshole of a brother. I soon left the table and walked to the door angry at the somber tone of the moment. But I stopped when I looked outside.

The door had been left open, allowing the cool, night breeze to circulate throughout the house. Melanie was on the patio, leaning along the railing of the fence separating the patio from the front yard. She stared up at the moon and stars, looking at them like a family member she hadn't seen for a long time.

From my point of view, the moonlight shining down on her face brought forth a beauty I never recognized before.

'Keep it in your pants, kid. She's just a dragon,' I argued internally. 'Maybe not _just_ a dragon… but definitely not human.'

"We Latis are never born in single numbers. We always grow up as pairs, as brother and sister." When she said this, she looked down, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She then turned back to look at me with her left arm reaching behind her back and grabbing her right arm at the elbow.

When she had said that, it made me remember two things. One as that her species was called Latias. The other was that they had a male counterpart, called a Latios. Noticing that I hadn't seen a male version of her at the house, and in the state she's in now, I assumed the worst when it came to her 'brother.'

 **(N°093** by **relaxdaily)**

"What are you going to do now?" She asked. The question caught me off guard. I hadn't really thought about what I'd do. I mean, if I was back in my world, I'd probably find a way to use that serum to my advantage, and then go on a killing spree and decapitating every person responsible for my downfall.

But now that I'm here, in a new world with familiar creatures, a new start, and unlimited possibilities, I don't know where to go or how to go about doing things.

Seeing the question as a near dead-end, I walked up to the railing and began leaning on the corner column of the patio. Realizing she had asked that question quite some time ago, I finally responded.

"Beats me," I said with a scoff. But then I began to think about my old life back home. I thought about my friends that I had fought and drank with. I thought about the people I knew growing up that helped raise me. I thought about my ex-fiancé. As much as I hated them for not believing in me in my time of need, a compelling force inside of me wanted them not to die or suffer, but to see the truth. The same compelling force an abused child would have to urgently get someone to see behind the façade of happiness that has been set inside their home. To want the truth to be revealed and seen by everyone.

I think that's what my father would have wanted. What my mother would have wanted.

What… my brother would want.

"Melanie," I asked. She gave a hum in response. "Do you know if there's any way for me to get back home?" She looked bewildered, almost scared to death.

"Why would even think about doing that? What about your government? What about your brother? What would they do if they-"

"-Found out I was innocent?" I finished for her. "I know what they could do to me. Believe me, I used to work for them; hell, I was attacked by them shortly before I came here. I know well enough what they're capable of. And besides… I don't want them to live on with the tainted image of me they have been lied to about."

"But- but… you don't even know where to look or begin?"

"True," I admitted, "But I remember this region vaguely enough. I should be able to navigate around it if I ask a few people. Who knows, maybe I'll befriend a legendary and get them to help me get back home." This last part I said with a chuckle, but Melanie, understanding what I meant by 'legendary,' quickly tensed up.

"You're- you're not serious… are you?" She asked, trembling from either fear or disbelief.

"Well, I'm sure if they could talk, then they'd probably have some answers for me. And I don't have any use or plans to catch one so I'll at least have some respect from them there…" As I pondered, Melanie spoke up.

"They don't hand out respect to anyone that just says they're innocent!" I looked at her. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but… "They hate humans just as much as you saw me earlier. There's only one way they would even try to listen what you would have to say."

"And what's that?" I asked, completely involved in finding any answer I could.

"You have to prove to them that you can earn the respect of our kind; that you can create a bond that goes past the barrier of species." I looked at her with a mix of amazement and indifference.

'I wonder where I heard that one before,' I thought.

"But…" She began, giving me a ray of hope.

"But…?" I egged her to continue as jumpy as a child on Christmas.

"But… If I go along with you, I may be able to speed up that process. I know one of these 'legendries' you speak of. While he's a very temperamental being, I think he, more than anyone I know, would be able to give you answers on your situation."

"Really? Thank you!" I exclaimed, unintentionally giving her a hug. When she gasped, I realized my mistake and backed off. Wanting to know more, "So what's his name? Which one is it?" I asked, excited to find out which legendary I was going to meet. God I felt like a damn fanboy. But who could help it? I was meeting a real life Pokémon. But the way she whispered her next word was like a sub-zero chill that had briefly entered the area.

"…Rayquaza…" The green wyrm. I remembered it vividly, unlike the game it had starred in. Its snake-like body was long and aerodynamically designed for speedy flight using its legendary power. It had two small, nearly useless arms ending in sharp talons. And its mouth, if I could visualize it in front of me was strong enough to crush an LMTV with little effort.

She whispered it, almost silently, but loud enough for me to understand. The word lingered around in the air after it was spoken, echoing in my mind like a curse. I shivered at the tone of her voice. And then it came back to me, the reality of this world, the stark difference between world and game. Meeting Rayquaza wouldn't be as simple as walking up to it and throwing a masterball, one of the other things I remembered very well; it would require skill and cunning to locate it. And on top of that, if it was guarded by other Pokémon – ones that were as dangerous as Nidoking was – it would require strength from not only me, but others as well.

And even then, I'm positive that the legendary would look nothing like the game version. It would be scaled like a true reptile; rough scales like a bearded dragon. Its arms would probably be much larger, sharper, and more useful than little twigs. Its jaw would contain copious amounts of sharpened teeth, worn but still strong over hundreds, maybe thousands, of years of deadly use. The atmosphere of being around it would probably drain my body of oxygen, courage, and, to my embarrassing displeasure, probably my urine or fecal matter.

It would be a truly terrifying thing to witness if I had just gone alone in small hopes that it would even listen to me. Melanie was right, I would need her help: the help of another, though less significant, legendary to persuade it of my case.

"Alright," she spoke, forcing me out of my thoughts, "It's settled: I'm going with you."

"Really? You're sure?" I asked, concerned for her safety after thinking about the true risk of the situation.

"Yes. Besides, after saving you from an enraged Nidoking, I don't think you'd last a day out there without my help," she noted with a small giggle.

"hehe," sheepishly laughed, "What about the Mutt and Chance?" I asked. No doubt I wanted to beat the mutt senseless, but if he could use those orbs like I did, he might be able to help me and, god-forbid, train me on my ability. I know I still have it, courteous of Melanie's discovery, but it's just dormant right now. Probably from sleeping for a month… maybe longer, who really knows at this point?

And as for Chance, the little Eevee… well… I just like the little guy.

"They won't be coming. It's too dangerous for them, even for you. But you need help that… _He_ can provide answers for. No one else will come."

I sighed in defeat. Normally I'd argue, but again: I'm talking to a dragon.

"So it's just you and me then?"

"Yep! We leave in two days," She stated to my shock.

"Two days?! You do realize I'm injured… don't you?" I said, motioning towards my ribs. To this, she laughed once again.

"Don't worry, you'll be healed completely by then!"

"How?" I asked incredulously.

"Your gift… When given the time, your wounds heal much faster than it would have had you not possessed it. And with enough training, you'd be able to administer self-aid and heal even faster."

I hadn't thought about this. I looked back to when Riolu had fixed my broken knee, how by hovering over the injury and emanating a blue light, he was able to, albeit painfully, fix it within seconds. Which begged the question…

"What exactly _is_ the gift?" I asked, hoping for a name of some sort.

Gracefully, she walked over to me and went to grab my hand, but I instinctively pulled away.

"Trust me," she whispered. Slowly, but surely, I lent her my right hand and she held it palm up. But after doing so, she walked past it and stood by my side. I stared forward as she leaned in and gingerly gave me a small peck on the cheek, causing a rush of confusion, awkwardness, caution, and arousal inside of me. Almost immediately, my hand had produced a small orb of light, just like I had done before. It danced in place on my palm, like a flame in the wind.

"Aura," she told me with a devilishly cute grin. A few seconds after she let go of my hand and went inside, the orb dissolved, leaving me to feel over my cheek, wondering what in the hell had just happened.

'Was that supposed to show me something…' I thought, 'Or was it… something else.'

I looked up at the night sky wondering, 'God, what have you gotten me into now?'

As soon as I had regained my thoughts, I went inside and plopped myself on the couch-bed. Though I was reminded of the pain from my still-residing injuries, I silently thanked God for being able to enjoy the comfort of a mattress into the night after so much time of running away and hiding.

Today had been one hell of an adventure, but tomorrow and the following days begin a new one. I had to be ready. But more importantly, I think I have to document my find of this world. If I could return back to mine and introduce the fact that this world was real, who knows what could happen. I'd probably be revered as a great explorer. My charges would probably be lifted.

I laughed.

But… to introduce my people to this world? I could only think about the harm it would bring. How… we would probably wage war against these monsters, losing mass casualties on both sides.

In the end… I think it'd be better to avoid a war that should never even begin.

'Oh what do I know? I'm exhausted. I need sleep.'

As I drifted off into the depths of my mind, I wondered about this 'aura' that Melanie had talked about. I wondered if having the injection was even a good thing.

And for the first time in seven… or actually eight… months, I slept in bliss.

* * *

 **a/n**

 **So Michael realizes he's in the world of Pokemon, learns he has aura abilities, and all of the main characters have been introduced.** **This chapter's a little short, but it pretty much marks the end of the introduction to the story.**

 **As for Melanie, or Latias I should say, the image I had in mind was Silverbirch's own artwork of her on DeviantArt**

 **Also, I love listening to music while reading so putting different songs in events I think are appropriate will kinda be a regular thing. So expect symphony, vocals, and regular songs being added in every now and then.**

 **Remember, feedback and suggestions are always appreciated, so until next time...**

 **Chapter 4: Journey of a Thousand Miles**


	4. Journey of a Thousand Miles

**I do not own Pokemon or any of the songs used in this chapter.**

 **[UPDATED 23 MAY 2016] Slight change to evolution mechanics.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Journey of a Thousand Miles**

 **Mid-December, 2001**

 **{3** **rd** **Person}**

There was no snow; it never snows in Arizona.

That's what Michael had been told when he had asked his father about it approximately a year ago from the present. As he looked outside of the limousine window, he was once again reminded of his father's wisdom. The clouds were present, keeping the sun from smiling upon the somber day.

To his left was his mother, and to her left, Matthew. Neither one of them felt any emotion but sadness and longing for the past and future simultaneously. But of all three of them, Michael's mother, Dawn, felt depression at the deepest level. Neither one of them spoke a word since they had entered the black vehicle; there was no need nor desire: they all knew what was to come from what had happened.

Dawn wore a black sundress with a short, black jacket made of wool to protect her from the December cold. The black fedora on her head served no purpose of fashion, but to hide her eyes when the time would come. Both children wore matching tuxedos, black along with the collared shirts and tie underneath.

Not even the driver spoke. Both his job, experience and morality prevented him from doing so. It wasn't his place to talk; yet, he felt almost a similar sense of sadness from the atmosphere. Perhaps he would light a cigarette, or maybe pour himself a glass of bourbon, once the day was over. But that was a long time from now. He had a job to do. Maybe another day would come where the setting was lighter than today.

But for the family in the back, a lighter day wouldn't come for years.

As the driver pulled into the driveway of his stop, Dawn let out a deep sigh, knowing what was to come in the next few hours.

"Come on boys, let's go," she said, almost whispering to the both of them. Neither one dared to say anything back; both had just as slowly exited the limousine with matched expressions. Dawn tipped the driver and thanked him for his services to which he obliged by tipping his cap. He gave her his next time scheduled for return and he left.

She turned to look at the entrance gate to the cemetery. Friends and family alike were gathered together, sharing conversations with one-another far off from the family of three. Dawn took the hands of both her sons and the three began walking the pathway to the small gathering.

When they had gotten closer, Michael could recognize some of the people there. His cousins, uncles and aunts, and both sets of grandparents. Others he didn't recognize, but remembered as friends and colleagues of his mother and father. Every single one of them wore black, almost making it impossible to distinguish one from another of the same gender.

When they arrived, the adults, careful to not overwhelm her, gave their respects to Dawn, to which she thanked them quietly and with an attempted smile, but all had seen the grief behind it. The children, not as subtle as the grown-ups, had gathered around Michael and Matthew, who never left within arms-distance of each other.

As much as they tried to cheer the two of them up, the two children of interest, still unable to understand everything around them, couldn't be shaken from their thoughts.

"I'm sorry about what happened."

"This really sucks, dude, I'm sorry."

"At least he's in heaven."

"My dad says there's no such thing."

"Yes there is!"

"I know how you feel."

As each child spoke, the two brothers fell deeper into the pit of despair. None of their friends and cousins knew how they felt. To have someone they loved ripped from them without warning – without question.

Soon, the pastor had arrived, greeting the widow and her two sons before the other attendees. He made sure to smile in hopes to lighten the atmosphere despite the somberness of the day. It wasn't his first time doing this, but it certainly wouldn't be his last. The routine of these kinds of days were always the same. He was only there to provide comfort as well as send the departed off into the next world.

As time passed on through the day, the attendees took their seats surrounding the podium, mural, and the coffin waiting to be placed into the ground. The family of three had reserved seats in the front.

When all seats were taken, the pastor had begun his rehearsed speech.

 **(Amazing Grace)**

"Friends and family, Dawn, Matthew, and Michael, we are all gathered here today in the remembrance of the deceased: Christopher Alex Blake. A little over three months ago, Christopher had taken a business trip to New York. Three days in, the World Trade Center, his place of work at the time, was attacked… by a band of cowards and lost souls. Thousands had died in the incident and millions of families had suffered due to these acts against God…"

As he went on, also bringing people to the podium to share their thoughts and condolences on the subject, Michael had stared at the grass below him, tuning himself out from the speeches of his father's relatives and associates. No matter what they had said, no words would bring his father back. No matter how deep they were, they did not serve any justice.

Once everyone had taken their turn to speak, the pastor had taken the podium again.

"Hearing the words of Christopher's cherished friends and family, I feel as if I had known him myself," he said while looking down. "I want you all to remember and hold on to the words you have spoken here today. It may not seem like it, but Christopher hears the emotions you have non-verbally spoken through your hearts. He has moved on to a better place, and I know he would want that for you all when the time is right. I don't believe he would want us to grieve, but rather celebrate his entrance into the Lord's almighty and everlasting kingdom…"

Again Michael had tuned out for the rest of the pastor's speech. He didn't want to hear any more from others. The only person's voice he wanted to hear right now was his father. He didn't care what it took. Though he knew it to be impossible, he still would have done anything to have him back – or just long enough to say goodbye to him in person.

As the pastor finished his speech, he began praying while the crane lifted Michaels father, Dawn's husband, into the ground. Two men came and started shoveling dirt on the coffin, burying the deceased from sight.

But as they were doing so, the thunder rolled and water began falling from the sky in little trickles. While everyone, the pastor included, pulled out umbrellas, the family of three just sat there as the men with the shovels continued working.

Michael hoped that it was snow instead, maybe as a sign that his father was watching. He curled his lips slightly into a smile, knowing that it was only rain, that it would only be rain.

There was no snow; it never snows in Arizona.

* * *

 **Present**

 **{Michael's POV}**

The next couple of days flew by quickly and without any noteworthy occurrences. Except for maybe the fact that my injuries were practically non-existent by the third day living here. Melanie had been right when she said that my 'aura' or whatever it was called would heal me faster than normal. A practical 2-month recovery had been shortened down to two days. Now all that was left was some slight soreness and stiffness.

But that was insignificant now; what was actually important was the event of the day. Today would begin my hopefully short journey to meet the legendary dragon: Rayquaza. But to my dismay, Melanie had planned out the schedule of our trip and estimated the time to arrive at about two weeks from now.

Starting today, we would take a short journey on boat to an island, much greater in size than the one Melanie resides on, by the name of Mossdeep: another familiar name. Shortly after our arrival there, she offered to fly us both, in her dragon form to my excitement and displeasure, to a secluded village in the dead center of an ancient crater.

According to her, the reason behind this detour was because Rayquaza resided in a tower built by an ancient civilization to the southwest of the said village by the name of Sootopolis. Seeing as it was deadly to anyone that dared to enter, the villages and cities across the landmass of Hoenn had agreed to place guards at the foot of the tower to prevent anyone from risking their lives. The only way to gain access was by special permission from the chieftain of that village who usually only allowed entrance to priests that would leave gifts in order to keep Rayquaza pleased and uninfluenced from wanting to destroy everything. Now when she said that it was banned by anyone, she meant _everyone._ The tower was off limits to all human personnel that weren't there to _only_ leave gifts upon the first floor.

But for our mission, which was to go to the top and speak directly to this fearsome dragon, Melanie planned to ask for special permission from the chief using my situation as an alibi.

Now after gaining this permission and speaking to Rayquaza him… her… _itself,_ everything that transpired afterwards would be up to me and how I saw fit to return to my home-world.

Seeing this as the situation, I sought to figure my next move for when I return to my world: what I would do then and how I would go about doing it. I had enough time… about two weeks to be precise, if she was right.

But as of now… I'm stuck…

…

I'm stuck fighting with this goddamned mutt in combat… yet a-fucking-gain.

"Why on earth did you agree to this?" Melanie asked me in disappointment as I stood on one end of the battlefield (her front 'yard') while Riolu stood opposite of me. We both panted heavily from moving around the field. I was shirtless wearing only a pair of loose fitting pants that were light enough to maneuver in. and Riolu… well… he was just naked.

"I don't know?! Why did you agree to this?!" I argued back.

You see, Riolu had gotten all pissy-pants because he couldn't 'protect Melanie from me.' Or so he said. So being the smartass, dumbass, con-man I am, I gave him the opportunity, no, privilege of facing me in a fight. When I win, he would stay here and looked after Chance. If he won, he would come along with us and Meganium would look after Chance. Melanie agreed, somehow thinking I would have the advantage after being able to conjure up these 'aura spheres' from practicing the last couple of days.

However, as proven by multiple aura spheres to the face and side, we immediately regretted the decision.

"*Sigh,* I'm asking myself the same thing," Melanie mumbled under her breath.

"So you gonna make your move, Mutt, or am I gonna have to finish this myself?" I taunted. Immediately after, he charged up an orb and began sprinting toward me. I mimicked his movements and we both headed for a collision course. The sneaky little bastard, however, thrusted his orb to the ground, creating a cloud of dust that rendered my vision ineffective.

Thanks to my senses, I detected an attack coming from my left side, and I dodged forward thusly. Escaping the cloud off sand, I looked back and threw my sphere into it, believing the mutt to be somewhere inside. Hearing a yelp, I grinned in success; but I had not planned for him to come running out with a fucking stick made of aura in his hand-paw or whatever it was. I was caught off-guard, and the mutt began beating my legs senseless as I struggled to run from him and his stick.

"OW! FUCK! STOP THAT! OW! SHIT!" I yelled from the pain. I threw a sphere at him to which he dodged. Using his maneuver as a distraction, I grabbed the stick and threw another one at him to knock him back a few feet. I had the advantage now.

Though, despite the turn around, he seemed almost indifferent to the fact I had stolen his little switch.

'Oh well, payback time," I thought. Closing in on him, I threw another sphere to throw him off balance before charging my arm backwards to swing his own staff at him.

But at my disappointment, he simply sidestepped the aura sphere and took the hit from the stick, which evaporated as soon as I thought it had made contact. While I was dumbstruck from what just happened, the little mutt formed another one and began swinging it at me again.

I became angrier with him and myself for what happened. This dog was relentless; the only way I would probably win was to put him in a choke-hold or something of the sort.

Settling on that idea, I turned around and used my foot to sweep his feet, effectively tripping him. Pouncing on him, I looked for the best window of opportunity to trap his arm or neck into submission.

Needless to say, I was not expecting him to launch me back after barely touching my chest with his paw.

"Can't we just call this a draw and move on?" Melanie asked from the sidelines. I looked at her and smirked.

"Never," I said in defiance, but when I looked back to my target, he was holding a scimitar made of aura to my chest. Through all the adrenaline running through my veins, I had barely realized he actually stabbed me.

 _All you have to do_

Everything became muffled except for that little whisper in my head that I couldn't clearly define. Melanie's voice drifted off into the background and my vision darkened as visions of my past deployments came to haunt me.

There was so much blood in those memories. So much that pools of blood gave birth to shiny, crimson figures slowly walking towards me like zombies. I felt as if I had been put into a nightmare for a moment.

 _Let go_

This wasn't a spar anymore: this was a war. A war between life and death that possessed my logical reasoning, forcing myself to act in survival. Losing myself to primal, veteran instinct, I firmly grabbed the blade of Riolu's scimitar with both hands. Melanie's voice started gaining volume, but not enough to influence me to cease my actions.

I was gasping for air without legitimate reason at this point. It was like my body had been taken over by something darker than the things I have already seen. I slowly struggled to raise the sword from my chest as Riolu seemed to have no problem in working against me.

 _"_ _BOTH OF YOU STOP!"_ I heard Melanie yelling clearly. This brought me out of my trance and without planning to, I loosened my grip on the blade. However much attention Riolu gave her at this point, he still applied force on the blade, causing it to cut my palms and thrust toward my chest.

Thanks to Melanie, or so I assumed, the scimitar had frozen millimeters from my chest and dissolved into the air in wisps. I breathed a sigh in relief while the mutt merely huffed and walked away, but not out of the vicinity.

Wincing from pain, I looked at my hands. Two streaks of broken flesh oozed blood that dripped and stained the ground beneath me. Focusing on peace in mind, I emanated two aura spheres in each hand that took on the form of fire more than an orb. I gritted my teeth as the flames cooked and burned the wounds on my palms before sealing them up like they weren't even there. It was a technique that Latias taught me yesterday.

Evidently there was more than one way to heal yourself if you had aura abilities. Most of which come with time and training and the effects differ with each technique as well as each patient. For example, if I was more advanced in healing, I would be able to patch myself up in no time with little to no discomfort at all. But to another with this ability, they would only feel a little discomfort while a target with no aura power whatsoever would yelp in pain.

This was because, from my understanding of Melanie's own intake on it, every living organism – plant, animal, bacteria, etc. – has their own aura, their own soul so to speak. Aura is like a collection of cells: they are produced, serve their purpose, and wither away to make room for another cell. That being said, people produce aura unknowingly like cells. Those with my ability produce an abundance of Aura to the point where it must be released. This allows the wielder of this ability to manifest and manipulate his own aura within the palm of his hand however he may choose, given he has the proper training. Now when healing a living organism, you are giving your unique aura, which is like your DNA, to another. This causes a reaction that forces the patient's aura to reject the donor's aura like white blood cells fighting a virus, bringing pain to the patient. However, given the amount of Aura infused by the donor, the donor's aura can suppress the patient's aura, if given enough time, and heal the patient's injuries. This new aura will eventually transform into the patient's aura, almost leaving no trace that there was even a donor nor an injury.

Long story short, while I thought it stung to heal myself five minutes ago, using that technique to a human with no ability would bring them immense pain to the point of passing out before being healed.

I turned around to see Riolu rolling around on the ground while clutching his head. It sounded like he was whimpering from a headache; to which I looked to Latias for explanation.

"Not that I care or anything, but is the Mutt alright?" I asked her. That was when I noticed her eyes were glowing that same golden light.

"He will be…" she answered bubbly. Her tone took a turn to that of seriousness. "But I don't know about you. What was that back there?" She asked with folded arms.

"Umm… a battle?"

"I know that Michael, I'm talking about when you went crazy. You looked like you were possessed, like something that Riolu did set something off in your-"

"I don't wanna talk about it," I said blankly. Seeing her worried face, I sighed and gave her a more descriptive answer. "It has something to do with my past. I'll tell you when I know you better. But for now, just drop it." I felt I stated it a little harsh… but whatever Matthew did to my trust, my history in the military did exponentially worse to my mind.

However, she didn't seem to mind how I said it.

"Alright, just don't forget to tell me when the time comes," she said, moving on from the topic.

"So since _you_ stopped the fight… who won?" I asked, crossing my fingers in hopes she said it was me.

"I told you both, it was a draw. Seeing as Riolu's challenge stated he would come with us if he defeated you, his lack of definite victory settles that he is staying here."

"Rau!?" the mutt exclaimed, breaking from his headache.

"Yes, you will stay here and look after Eevee-"

"Ahem…" I interrupted.

"You will stay here and look after _Chance_ until we return," she said in mild frustration.

"Woah there, lady…"

"Melanie," she replied with an evil smirk.

"Melanie, what's with this 'we' crap? You gotta mouse in your pocket?" I asked grinning widely. I stared at her blank face, hoping she would crack a grin, until I remembered that I came from a different world. "Right, separate universe. Well, excusing the ingenious comedy of the '90s, who the hell said I was coming back?"

"Uggh fine! Until _I_ return. You happy Michael?" She said in an irritated expression.

"A little less attitude and sold!" I exclaimed, once again hoping for some sort of reaction. "Note to self, Melanie's a buzzkill," I mumbled under my breath.

"I heard that!"

"Don't give a fuck," I boredly replied. To be honest, I just wanted to get the show on the road. Melanie was ready, the boat would be here in an hour, and I had to take another shower… or bath seeing as how this world lacked the futuristic advances of mine.

'Or at least this island does' I pondered. "Agh fuck it," I said, "Melanie, does this island have a lake on it?"

"Yeah, several," she yelled from across the front yard as she talked with Riolu, Chance, and Meganium.

"One that's on the way to the pick-up location with no risk of being sodomized by another other-worldly beast?" I added.

She turned to look at my face with a bewildered appearance on hers. From the way it looked, Meganium's eyes were just as wide. Riolu and Chance, on the other hand, looked lost.

 _"_ _Do you really have to use that word in front of them?!"_ she asked in my head.

"Oh so you understand _that_ word," I responded with a tinge of sarcasm, "Just… is the lake safe?"

"Yes, you're safe," she replied in a hurry as she returned to her conversation with the three _other_ pokemon.

I pumped my fist in success and grabbed my shirt and the backpack Melanie lent me. It was a dusty, old thing; about 10 years old if I had to put a label on it. It was a single-compartment back with two cords for straps; it was like those kind in my world that the opening at the top could be loosened or straightened by pulling the cords. Its material was a type of leather made from 'Camerupt' hide, according to Melanie.

I didn't really care as I could deal with any kind or material as long as it had two straps. The waterproof feature of the leather was an added bonus.

 _"…_ _dad…"_

I looked around, wondering where that same voice came from. I've been hearing lately around the house, but no one seemed to know what I was talking about. And Riolu always just laughed and flicked and aura marble at the back of my head.

After putting on the plain, dark-green t-shirt, I walked over to the dragon-lady, who had finished her conversation with the three monsters that walked away towards the house.

"You ready there?" I asked, eager to get this trip underway.

"Yep," she said with a sigh. "So I'm assuming you want to take a bath in the lake?"

"Wow, can you read minds?" I asked with a sarcastic smile, as we began walking into the forest toward our destination.

"Really? I thought I told you-"

"I was joking. Damn, for someone who's 'connected' to me, you sure have a hard time with humor."

"I know humor," she barked in defense.

"Well then enlighten me with a joke," I challenged. The walk was silent for about a minute before she told her 'joke.'

"Knock Knock."

Ah, the famous knock-knock jokes, "Who's there?"

"Nanab." I had to take a double-take at her for the strange word, but I let her continue.

"Nanab who?"

"Knock knock." Wait a second.

"Um… who's there?"

"Nanab." Oh no, it can't be…

"Nanab who?"

"Knock knock."

'God, please don't let it be this,' I thought to myself, cringing at my prediction.

"Who's there?"

"Oran."

Fuck.

"Oran who?" I asked holding my breath.

"Oran-you glad I didn't say nanab?" To this, she burst out laughing uncontrollably, grabbing her side as we walked through the woods. I smacked my face in a face-palm and let out a large and annoyed sigh.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Melanie, if you're going to kill me, I'd rather you turn into a dragon and bite my head off instead of telling me a dead joke."

"I'm not going to kill you? Why would you think that?!" She questioned me with worry.

"Oh my god, _that_ was a joke, Melanie." Sometimes I wish I could just strangle her without the fear of getting blown to bits.

"Oh… well it wasn't that funny," she mumbled almost as quietly as a whisper. "Why don't you tell a joke then?" I snorted.

"Yeah, how about no. My humor involves sarcasm, or for the most part, on-the-spot phrases. Whenever the opportunity reveals itself, then I say a small joke, then move on. It doesn't require actual jokes not to mention horrible puns and one-liners."

Things were silent for a bit, so I took this time to look around at the green scenery. I noticed enlarged ladybugs and caterpillars scaling the trees as well as giant butterflies flittering around above us. It almost seemed like a little slice of paradise.

"Michael," Melanie called out to me.

"Yes milady?" I answered wittily.

"What does 'Jesus fucking Christ' mean?" she asked innocently. Now it was my turn to look at her in astonishment.

"What the hell?! Why would you just say that out of nowhere?!" I asked, slightly outraged by the choice of words. It wasn't exactly _what_ she said, it was more of _how_ she mentioned it like a child would ask their parents.

"Well you said it earlier and I don't understand what it means."

"Aggh! Look, it's _'Jesus Christ,'_ and he's a person. Long story short, I shouldn't have said that, and neither should you. Okay?"

She nodded, "Okay, but what does that other word mean? The one that you use all the time?" I thought helplessly for a moment trying to understand what word she was talking about. When it hit me, I wasn't surprised, but I wasn't exactly calm.

"What, you mean f… the 'f-word?'" She nodded looking into my eyes like she was looking for the answer inside of them. "Uhhh… it means…"

'Oh shit how do I say explain this to a dragon with the mindset of a child?' I asked myself. When I looked up, I noticed a lake ahead of us about 100 meters: my escape.

"Oh is that the lake? Gee-willikers I need to take a bath…"

"Don't change the subject!" she yelled as I ran off toward the body of still water.

"It means love!" I yelled to get her off my ass. The longer she was satisfied with a wrong answer, the more time I had to find out how to explain the right answer to her.

* * *

The next hour and a half was spent with me bathing and us two talking as we traversed through the woods with a semi-fast pace. Our conversation was spent talking about the vast differences as well as similarities that our worlds shared.

For instance, this world and my world both fruit: apples, oranges, you name it. However, the fruit of this world had donned the name 'berries' somewhere along the timeline. Along with this, these berries, though they had different colors, sizes, and tenderness, shared a striking, almost replicated, similarity to the fruit of my world; the names were just a bit off. Oranges were called 'orans,' bananas were called 'nanabs,' and tomatos were… well, just 'tomatos' (but with a different pronunciation).

As we walked between the trees, I pointed out several pokemon that I recognized from the video game. However, as expected, this world didn't call them pokemon at all. They didn't even have a name for these creatures when discussing them in general. There were only species names like 'butterfree,' or 'nidoran,' much like we distinguish animals as cats and dogs.

Something I was interested in understanding was the names of each species of pokemon. In this world, pokemon did not possess a name for each stage of evolution for a species. They were generally referred to a single name, one that we recognize, that represented their entire line. For example, a catetrpie or metapod in my world would be known simply as a butterfree larva or cocoon respectively. As for the nidoking species, they were all known as nidoran for the simple fact that the base evolution, or the newborns, branched off into different pokemon based off gender: essentially, nidokings are referred to as nidorans. The same rule applies to the opposite-gender counterpart of the species. I assumed that Melanie referring to that monster as nidoking was clarification on the species.

The general idea was that pokemon evolution was... well, a complicated process. In the wild, evolution was a sign of maturity. They grow those extra parts, gained in what I thought was evolution, as their life-span continues. But there are those who have become domesticated. Some see these as an entirely different breed as those found in the wild. They don't evolve at all because their evolution is only sparked by combat when they require the needed power and abilities. And when I asked Melanie about it, she told me she didn't want to talk about it. The only thing extra that she gave me was this: pokemon don't really evolve. They practically 'devolve.' They weren't always this cute and cuddly, the basic evolution that is. They were all born as they were in their final evolution, only smaller. As time progressed, and fighting between species declined, they reached a docile state that was easy to confuse for adorable. The reasons behind this were left a mystery as Melanie told me to drop the subject after asking her why this was.

So just gave up.

By the time we both had reached the shoreline, the sun had reached its peak in the day, bringing immense, tropical heat on our heads. It was quite the climate change from living in the snow about a conscious week ago. Needless to say, as much I hated the cold, having the sun beat down on me wasn't a particularly favorite pass-time.

"Are you sure this is the right shoreline?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yep, just wait. They'll be here shortly… look, you can see them coming off in the distance!"

Sure enough as I looked off into the horizon, there was a tiny vessel that looked like a miniscule pirate ship. As time passed and it came closer, it started to resemble that of a steam-powered boat. It had a metal body with the exhaust pipes protruding from the center. If I had to guess, using the sailors aboard as a means of measurement, I would say from bow to stern the entire vessel was about 35 meters long.

When the steam boat had anchored down about 50 meters from the shore, a lifeboat was dispatched and sent our way to pick us up. After a little bit of waiting, it arrived with a small crew of two men plus someone who looked like the guy in charge.

"Hello Miss Melanie, it's a pleasure to see you again," the man in charge of the lifeboat greeted. He had tan skin with short, wavy, black hair. His facial features put him at around 30 years old if the black stubble on his face was anything to go off of. From the looks of it, this man seemed to have seen some shit: he had a long scar running from his hairline through his right eye, which was appropriately covered by an eyepatch. As far as style went, he wore some old jeans and a white shirt with a dark blue overcoat and custom boots for his profession.

If I was still a child, I would have believed this guy was really a pirate.

"It's nice to see you again Dean," Melanie responded with a pleasant smile. Dean turned his view to me and gave me a once-over as if judging my appearance. I had the slight nerve to give him another scar on his left eye.

"Who's he?" He asked to my subtle discomfort.

"This is Michael. Through… unfortunate circumstances, he was shipwrecked and ended up on the island. He's got a bad case of amnesia though," she replied giving me an alibi to avoid attracting attention to myself.

"Amnesia eh?" He confirmed with doubt.

"Yeah it's really bad. He's forgotten where he came from and most of the major events in his life. He only remembers his name, unfortunately."

He looked back at me with a raised eyebrow with his mouth open as if he had paused chewing his gum. Then, in a swift motion, he put on a more relaxed face and smiled as he extended his hand.

"Dean Henderson, first mate to Abraham Sandoval, Captain of the Foresight. It's a pleasure to meet you mister…?"

I waited a second, then proceeded to mimic his exact movements down to the tee.

"Michael Blake, Staff Sergeant of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger regiment, go fuck yourself," I said proudly and with a smile as I shook his hand firmly. Dean, on the other hand, left his limp like a fish.

"Fuck myself?" He asked.

'Yes! No one knows what this word means!"

"It means to wish you good fortune and luck," I falsely informed. Melanie, on the other hand, was as lost as ever. But Dean-bag over here couldn't see that on his own.

 _"_ _I thought you said it meant 'love?'"_ Melanie asked in my head.

 _"_ _I'll tell you about it later, just let me enjoy this moment while I can,"_ I thought as I tried to communicate the same way in return. A telepathic 'okay' from Melanie confirmed for me that this mind-talking thing was a two-way bridge.

"Well… Then fuck us all on this voyage," Dean spoke heartily. My eyes widened and I had to take a second to remember he didn't know what that word really meant, otherwise I would be terrified to go anywhere near that damned boat.

I guess it wouldn't be the worst decision I ever made. I mean I have jumped out of an airplane before.

Both of us loaded ourselves and our packs on the lifeboat while Dean prepared the small crew to depart back to the main ship. Having never been on a lifeboat being elevated on the side of a ship, I seemed to be the only one who was nervous. Dean's rocking of the suspended vessel rewarded him with a stern glare from myself to which he simply laughed.

As we boarded the large steamboat, several crewmembers came near to welcome us as they passed by working on their duties. Others only waved as they came to Dean with reports on the ship's status. The way he talked to them and ordered them around was actually pretty impressive. He complemented the crew on their accomplishments of tasks. As we walked around to the captain's quarters, he gave encouragements to those too focused in their work for their own good. I noticed how when there was a mess on the deck or wall, he wouldn't criticize, but would order someone to clean it immediately. He looked like a true leader.

Upon arrival of the main cabin, he stopped and warned us of our behavior.

"I want you both to be respectful when talking to my superior. Melanie, this isn't your first time so I won't emphasize much on you: you should already know the deal. As for you," he said gesturing to me, "The captain is a very strict man. In terms of experience, he's perhaps the best there is when it comes to seafaring. That being said, don't run your mouth too much or insult him, the ship, or its crew in any way. We all take pride in our work, and _he_ takes even greater pride."

"Alright, sounds fair enough. This isn't my first little-"

" _And_ whatever you do," he said sternly, cutting me off, "do _not_ , under any circumstances, mention the obvious." His cryptic message left me in question as he knocked on the door. Failing to get an answer, he slowly opened the door.

"Captain? We've picked up our guests… Captain?"

Light entered the dimly lit room the further the door creaked open. It looked like a small office with a couch, some cushioned chairs, and a desk near the back of the room. There was a cot to the right and a coat hanger at the foot of it. Looking on the desk, there was a man's face buried in a pillow and the sound of snoring echoed throughout the room.

 _"_ _Really? The captain's sleeping?"_ I asked in a mental message to Melanie.

 _"_ _Yeah, he sleeps a lot actually. Just wait till he wakes up,"_ she replied as cheery as ever.

Dean walked towards the captain, careful to not step on the empty bottles that littered the floor.

"Um… what was in those bottles?" I asked Melanie. I myself already knew the answer, but since everything in this world was different, listening to Melanie's own take on it wouldn't hurt.

"Those bottles contained a drug that _people_ use to feel dizzy. I honestly do not know why they choose to dull their own senses; it's harmful and stupid," she answered quietly with spite.

"So… it's alcohol?"

"If that's what you called it in your _dream,_ then yes." I picked up on her strange emphasis on 'dream' and remembered how we lied to Dean about my true cause of arrival.

"Captain, wake up," said Dean, shaking the captain's shoulder. I wasn't prepared for what would come from his action.

The captain immediately sprang up from his spot on the desk, landing on the desk itself, giving me a view of his outfit. It was nothing to flashy, just a polo shirt, a pair of light-blue jeans, and boots. He began singing in a shanty-like fashion.

"FAIR IS THE MAIDEN WHO LIVES IN THE SEA! FAIR IS THE CAPTAIN WE FOLLOW HIS LEAD!" He looked down and finally recognized that Melanie and I were in his company, "AH! MELANIE! YOU'VE RETURNED FOR THE HARVEST AGAIN I SEE?!" His merry voice boomed throughout the cabin with glee at seeing the woman to my right.

"Yes, Abraham, it's good to see you again. How is your business going?"

"OH GLAD YOU ASKED! I'VE RECEIVED MASSIVE PROFIT FROM MY TRAVELS AND THE TREASURES I BRING WITH ME TO SELL AT OTHER PORTS! EVERYTHING IS RUNNING AS SMOOTHLY AS THE SEA ON A CALM KYOGRE'S DAY! AND WHO MIGHT YOU BE?!" I might have responded to him if not for one little thing bugging my mind.

This anomaly had paralyzed me in place. I could not move a single, muscle; even breathing was proving to be troublesome. If I even flinched, I think I would burst in an uncontrollable fit of laughter. On his forehead was a discoloration in his pigment, a birth mark. But this wasn't just an irregular shape, on his forehead was a silhouette of a rather long and limp dick and balls. The detail in this natural occurrence was so precise that I could tell that it was circumcised.

It took every ounce of will in my body to not laugh, snicker, or even snort. But with all of this discipline, I couldn't help but find myself staring at _it,_ rather awkwardly too.

At least I did until a sharp pain ran through my mind, forcing me to clutch my head and repeatedly whisper out obscenities. When the headache subdued, I glared over at Melanie who smiled cutely at me as if she hadn't just done that.

"Uh… yeah, my name is Richard Blake- I mean Michael Dick- I mean Michael Blake. My name is Michael Blake," I began sweating as I found it nigh impossible to say anything without referencing that mark.

"MICHAEL BLAKE! IT'S ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO MEET AN AQUAINTANCE OF MELANIE! WHY HER AND I HAVE BEEN BUSINESS PARTNERS FOR YEARS!"

"Oh you flatter me, Abraham. But really I don't do much. I just advise on the right harvests to sell to the market. It's really nothing to brag about," Melanie said, trying to remain humble.

"NOTHING TO BRAG ABOUT?! MELANIE YOU JEST! YOU ALONE ARRE RESPONSIBLE FOR 40 PERCENT OF MY PROFITS ALONE! YET YOU REFUSE ANY SHARE IN THE INCOME! SHE'S THE PERFECT BUSINESS WOMAN IF YOU ASK ME WOULDN'T YOU THINK SO?!" He shouted looking at me.

"Uh yes that is quite a remarkable feat according to your testicle- I mean testimony." I looked over to Dean whose face was beyond furious at this point. He knew what I was doing, yet the captain hadn't exactly caught me yet… even if me doing so was on accident.

"INDEED IT IS! SO TELL ME, HOW DID YOU TWO MEET?!" I stood there, mouth agape, trying to find a sentence that would be appropriate.

"He was a survivor of a shipwreck. I found him stranded on the coast of the island, but he had lost most of his memory other than his name," Melanie said, saving me from myself.

"MY THAT IS A TRAVISTY I AM SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT!"

"Yeah it was quite the boner… no- I mean… I wish we met under better circumcision- _circumstances_ than being a lost seaman- _passenger_ from a sunken ship."

All eyes on the room were on me. Melanie's were unimpressed; Dean's were furious; and the Captain's were confused. I inhaled deeply and exhaled sharply before I kissed my ass goodbye.

"I'm sorry: there's a dick on your forehead," I stated coolly, calmly, and collectively. The captain gave a large sigh and scratched his head.

"It's alright boy, just let it out."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… I don't think there's anything left to be let out," I told honestly and took a knee. "I apologize for pointing out your flaws; I can only imagine the hell you have gone through."

"Not everyone can have as artistic birthmarks as you can," Melanie scolded me, but her comment stole my attention.

"Fuck are you talking about birthmarks? I don't have any birthmarks…" I thought for a then remembered she probably didn't know what the art on my skin actually was. "Oh do you mean my tattoos?"

"If you're referring to the images and words marked over your torso, then yes."

"Marks? What marks?" The captain asked, breaking his own silence.

"She means these," I said while removing my shirt. I kinda forgot that I even had them; the shock of what occurred in the last few days made me too preoccupied to notice that they were there. I wasn't all tatted up like most guys with art on their skin were; the Army _does_ have regulations to keep us in check. But I had a decent amount on my arms, back and chest.

The captain stepped down from his pedestal and closed the gap between us to inspect my 'markings.'

"Amazing!" He explained in a half whisper of wonder. "I've never seen marks so intricate and precise as these! How did you receive them? What do they mean? Are they a map? DO THEY LEAD TO TREASURE?!" He shouted as his jolly old soul returned to him.

"Calm down there Jethro-"

"THE NAME IS ABRAHAM SANDOVAL!" I jumped as he corrected me with honor despite the lack of mannerism.

"Right, Abraham, these _tattoos_ are really nothing special… at least not to the general public. I wasn't born with or given these, I had them drawn on me because I liked what they mean. Also 'cause it was a sign of badassery back in the military," I commented with a prideful smirk.

"Have you gained back your memories?" Dean asked from across the room. But before I could even attempt to respond with any lie to throw him off, Abraham began poking my right shoulder, to my first one coincidentally. It was an orange-reddish bird with fiery wings and a long tail that left embers in its trail: a phoenix.

"Is… is that the legendary bird of fire?" he asked with awe in his blue eyes.

"Oh… yeah, the phoenix. That was actually my first one."

"Have you seen it? With your own eyes?" He asked with even more child-like hope in his voice.

"No, actually… I've never seen a phoenix in my life. As far as I can… remember, it's only been a myth."

"Is that so…" He inquired.

"Yeah. I just have the tattoo because I like the connotation of the phoenix. 'Die in the flames and rise from the ashes.'"

"That's quite poetic," Melanie commented while placing her hand softly on my shoulder. I knew she was looking into my mind. She saw the same thing I was thinking.

"I have to agree Miss Melanie," Abraham joined in. "Now, this may be sort of late, but why do you come on _this_ voyage? You usually come with me every other time around? And you bring Meganium along with you, yet this time I haven't seen her."

"Personal matters concerning getting Michael back home safely; Meganium is staying home keeping an eye on the others," she replied with an honest answer. I forced myself to snap out of my thoughts.

"Speaking of which," I started, "how long will it take to reach the next port?"

"If all goes normal, it shouldn't be more than two days." I gave a nod in response before he spoke again. "If you're wondering how to pass the time, the crew on the ship anchors down tomorrow night in celebration for the Foresight's anniversary. You and Melanie are welcome to join us then. But until then just relax in the spare cabins as our guests."

"Really? Thank you, I'll be sure to join you all tomorrow night." I noticed Dean rolling his eyes as I said that and a nerve popped in my forehead. But I just kept quite as Abraham excused us to be escorted to our cabin by another crewmember.

Ryan, the crewman, successfully escorted us to small, yet roomy two-bed cabin, though it was a bunkbed. He informed us that chow would be in a few hours since they all already ate before docking at the island. With a bow, he excused himself from our company and left us alone in the room.

"I'm gonna take a nap. Can you wake me up when it's time to eat?" I asked as I climbed up onto the top bed.

"Of course Michael, you deserve some rest since you probably aren't used to the amount of walking we did."

My eye twitched.

"Are you patronizing me?" I asked in mock suspicion.

"No? Why?"

"Let's get something straight, I can go on for miles. That little stroll was nothing to me?"

"Was it now?" She provoked with an evil but cute smirk.

"Try 30 miles with 90 pounds on your back," I challenged.

"Hello… _I'm a dragon,"_ she told me as she sat on the bunk below me.

I growled, "Oh fuck it." I laid down on the bed with my hands behind my head and closed my eyes.

"Before you sleep…"

"…yes?"

"You never told me what that word meant…"

I sighed; I knew sometime it would come down to this. I still didn't have a decent answer or a careful way to explain it. But she still had a right to know if she was helping me; no matter how crude an explanation would be, it was already a bad subject to be discussing.

"First things first: it's not a good word. By that I mean that the word is… how should I say this right… blasphemous would be the more appropriate term I guess."

"So you've been saying blasphemous things this whole time?"

"No that's not what I meant… There really is no way to describe how or why it's bad… in my world, it just is. No one really knows why except that saying it is considered bad taste or a sign of immorality."

"Oh… What does it mean if it's so bad?"

"… It means a lot of things. Actually, it's kind of funny. It can mean anything you want it to if put in the right context. It could be used as emphasis on emotions or other words. It could mean to mess something up to the point of dysfunction. It could mean having sex… actually that could be the reason for why it's bad. It could mean to forget, or as a placeholder for other words. And my favorite: it could mean how much you care," I finished with a small chuckle.

"…So if it is a synonym for other words, why is it so bad?"

Good question, I'll ask Webster when I get back to my world.

"I guess it just is. It's just the culture of the world I grew up in. Children were discouraged from saying it, but as we grow older, we find ourselves saying it all the time; I guess as a sign of our maturity… It really isn't a good thing to say. I just say it because…"

I stopped. I wondered why I even say it now.

"I guess… Maybe because it just relieves stress," I concluded.

"Oh…"

"Can you do me a favor Melanie?" I asked looking up at the ceiling about a foot away from my face.

"That depends…"

"Don't say that word. Another thing I forgot to mention was that saying it kinda implies bad personality. I don't want to ruin what purity you have left."

"That's sweet of you Michael…" I smiled at the compliment, "But I'll smack you if I hear you _ever_ say that again."

"…It'll be worth it," I concluded before I let myself sleep.

* * *

 _"_ _Dad."_

I awoke with a cold sweat, immediately regretting sitting up too fast so as to bump my head on the low ceiling.

'There's that damned voice again… Why the hell am I hearing it?"

 _"…_ _dad…"_

I closed my eyes and focused on my senses, trying to imagine the scenery around me with aura. My breathing calmed and my blood rate slowed down, but I still saw the dark void underneath my eyelids.

I grunted in agitation, cursing myself and this power for not working like it did when I received the injection. I wondered why the potency of my abilities went away almost as fast as it had come; why, even though it had returned, it was taking too long for me to gain full grasp on it.

Then I felt something tickling the tip of my nose. Opening my eyes quickly to catch the culprit, I was unexpectedly met with a glowing white smoky presence. It looked like a collection of smoke with a trail that led outside the cabin.

I was reminded of then last time I saw something like this: two days ago when I was looking at the golden light radiating from Melanie. I thought perhaps this was the same thing. It did feel familiar, but to put a name on it was far from my senses.

I went to wave my hand through it to test its physical aspects, but as soon as I had touched it, like Melanie, an influx of emotions and strange feelings ran through my body. I was feeling artificial happiness as well as the urge to just start a spasm of giddiness.

But something else as new, blue veins began coursing through the white mass and tracing the tail of it outside the cabin.

"Melanie?"

"…don't put it there," she moaned in a sleepy tone. My eyes widened in wonder of what kind of dream she was having.

"Melanie? You awake?"

"…just give it to me… I can't take it anymore…"

'Oh my god, I didn't know she had another side to her,' I thought with a snicker.

"Melanie you need to wake up."

"…right there… that's much better… I thought you were good at this thing…"

I sighed, just wondering how long it would take to wake her up. I didn't want to shake her and risk ripping my arm off.

"…I don't care… the painting looks better right here…"

I couldn't gauge how hard I face palmed hearing this, but my nose certainly wasn't feeling very good after.

"Fuck, what is it gonna take for you to… AH!"

"What did you just say?"

In the middle of my sentence, she had opened her eyes and practically teleported on top of me on all fours. I shivered as a chill ran down my spine; though I wasn't sure if it was her tone or the position we were in right now.

"I-I said 'what's it gonna take for you to wake up?"

"…That wasn't all. You said _that_ word didn't you?" I completely forgot what she said before I took my nap, about how she would slap me. Actually I didn't think she was all that serious.

Yet here we are.

"I said 'shucks,'" my voice cracked as my faced sweat.

"We have a connection… you can't lie to me," she deadpanned.

"Didn't stop you when I lied about the word earlier…" I mumbled.

"Besides the point…"

Her voice was tuned out and replaced with another's; the child's voice to be more specific.

 _"_ _When can we see dad? I know he's here… But why? We're going to have to see them sometime. Are we just supposed to hide for the entire trip?... Well hurry up and find a way, Kudah, I want to see Mom and Dad… He's not a jerk! He scratched my belly and behind my ear! Besides he's a boy so he'd be a perfect dad!... I think you're jealous… Am too!... Am too!..."_

"OH SHUT UP ALREADY!" I yelled out at the two voices. But when I came back to reality, I was staring at a mouth-agape Melanie whose eyes were wide in… what's the best term… fury I believe?

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"What did you just tell me to do?"

"Uh, not you trust me I wouldn't tell you to shut up I mean you have a lovely voice but I'm not saying anything with that I'm just saying that I keep hearing these voices and they kinda overtook yours just now so I wasn't really listening to you I was listening to the voice… I'm sorry when I said I wasn't listening to you I didn't mean it like you think I meant it it's really kinda complicated your voice was kind forced out of my head but not by my means by something else and the voices I've been hearing for the past two days became louder so it's not like I wanted to stop listening to you even thought I kinda did it but that not listening to you was out of my control…"

She looked at me with a face that said 'I didn't hear a single word' and I sighed.

 _"_ _Come on, let's go see them now!"_

"Did you hear that?!" I asked urgently.

"Hear what? Don't try to change the subject!"

"That child's voice! I've been hearing it for the past two days and it won't stop! It just keeps saying 'dad' over and over again! And just now it started speaking full sentences after I…"

"After you what?"

"After I touched an… aura. A white aura…"

Things became silent as she pondered over my words, then a look of annoyance and almost anger overtook her face.

"Did you hear it once say 'Kudah?'"

"…Yeah… it sounds familiar?" She grunted and hopped off the bunk without making a single noise upon landing on the ground.

"Follow me…" The last thing I noticed before she turned around and headed out the door was the familiar glowing of her irises.

I followed her out and to the right towards the steep stairs that led to the main deck. The way she walked was similar to that of a woman that had just found out her man had been unfaithful, which sent a feeling of unease through my veins.

But I did wonder how she knew what I was talking about, and what exactly it was I was talking about. The fact that she knew threw the possibility of something wrong with my mind out of the porthole.

 _"_ _YUM! I didn't know they had this much delicious food… you be quiet!"_ Said the little voice again.

"Melanie, are we headed towards the kitchen?" I asked based on the voice's sentence. Without so much as slowing her momentum, she turned around and walked even faster in the opposite direction.

"Now we are," she growled almost demonically.

We passed by several workers who, upon simply glancing at Melanie, immediately moved to the side or crouched begging for mercy.

"I'm sorry. Just carry on. Please ignore us," I told each of them that were left in the wake of Melanie's aggravation.

When I turned around to continue following her, I ended up bumping into her causing us both to stumble.

"Jesus, why the f… hell did you stop?" I asked her just barely catching myself before I personally felt her wrath. Looking beyond her, I noticed a box leaning against the side of a cabin wall. Just over the top of the box, on the other side, were two sets of furry ears. A pair of stubby, blue ears, and a pair of long, brown ears.

 _"_ _Why are we hiding now Kudah?"_ I barely heard, almost like a whisper this time… coming from that specific direction. _"They are?!... But mommy won't be mad at me… Nuh-uh… Nuh-uh!... You're just jealous because mommy loves me more than you!"_

"AHEM!" Melanie said aloud, causing the two sets of ears to perk up: the blue ones shaking and the brown ones twitching. Then…

 _"_ _Mommy!"_ Said the voice, and an eevee, Chance to be specific, jumped from behind the box and ran over to Melanie, who suspended him in mid-air when he closed in half the distance. The other set of ears, Riolu, bounced up and began taking off away from us. Courtesy of an aura sphere from yours truly, he face-planted into the ground, and was picked up via telekinesis by Melanie, who floated him back to us.

Turning them to face us, Melanie spoke in a tone laced with darkness, "Explain yourselves!"

 _"_ _I wanted to see mommy and daddy!"_ the little fox replied right away.

Turning to look at Riolu, "And you?" Melanie asked with the same tone.

"Rauraurau," he mumbled.

"I can't hear you!"

"RAURAUrau!" he barked more clearly.

"What did he say?" I asked. But I was ignored… partially.

"You want to see Rayquaza too?! Are you out of your mind?!" She scolded, nearly yelling.

Silence ensued, allowing guilt to spread across both of their faces, Riolu more than Chance. With a heavy sigh, Melanie carefully set the two of them down and walked over to them.

 _"_ _I'm sorry mom."_

"Raurau," both said simultaneously. Melanie then pulled them both into a gentle hug.

"What is wrong with you two? What we're doing is dangerous – suicide for as young you are… I just want you both to be safe," she explained to them kindly.

"Wait if it's suicide then why the hell are you letting me go?!" I asked with a little exaggeration. But I was ignored… again.

 _"_ _But you, daddy, and Kudah can protect me! And I can get stronger!"_

"RAU!" the mutt barked at Chance.

 _"_ _But that's your name!"_

"Silence!" Melanie hissed, causing Riolu to look away as if he as hiding a tear. "Both of you! Chance, Riolu doesn't like being called that, so please don't. And Riolu," she said, getting his saddened attention, "Please go easy on him. He's young; he should be like a brother to you. I know you both wanted to come, but I can't risk losing you both at such a young age."

"Maybe the fucking mutt…" I mumbled silently.

"What did you just say in front of them?!" Melanie asked, turning around to look into both of my eyes like she was staring down my soul.

"Oh so now I have your attention. And adding on to that: can someone here, and not you, vermin," I said pointing to the mutt, "Explain to me why I can understand what Chance is saying?" I said, whispering that last part so no one but us four could hear. I was met with two equally confuse faces and one happy face that just didn't give a single shit in the world- to which I smiled at.

But that happy expression turned to questioning and then to slight fear as Melanie began walking toward me and extended her arm towards my face.

"Uh, look if this was about what I said, understand it might take a while for me to get used to it!" I exclaimed worriedly. I winced when she thrust her hand towards my face, but I felt no pain. In fact, I didn't really feel anything anymore. It was like my entire brain wasn't focusing on anything but Chance. I couldn't breathe, feel, hell I could barely see. But thankfully, that moment was short-lived.

I fell to my knees, gasping for air when Melanie retracted her hand away from my face.

"What… did you just… do to me?" I panted heavily, feeling like I had just been water-boarded. But to my dismay, a familiar feeling rose up inside of me, like a small ember being given fuel to ignite into a massive pyro.

'Whatever she did must have activated my PTSD. But I can't do this here. Not now.'

With as much conscious energy as I could muster, I stumbled over to the wall towards the interior of the ship and leaned on it with both hands, breathing heavily in effort to calm myself down. When an unstoppable urge found its way to my hands, I had no choice but to let it go in an aura-infused punch to the wall, creating a loud cracking noise and a crater from where my fist landed.

That seemed to do the trick, since any hostile feelings I just had vanished. But with this, came the attention of several crewmen as well as Dean, who just looked like he had woken from a nap. I looked around to see all the faces of shock, the faces of amazement spread throughout the growing crowd. Looking to the three creatures that had come with me, Melanie stood in front of the two smaller mammalians, arms spread in efforts to protect them. Riolu, on her right (my left), had an aura sphere charged between his hands, ready to go at any given instant. Chance, on the opposite side, looked at me with both his furry ears down in somber pity.

My face and knees fell in silent defeat as I grasped just how badly I've fucked things up. I let this madness, this disease, _this curse,_ take over me and influence my behavior. I lost the battle I've started long ago.

 _"_ _Daddy?"_ I looked up swiftly, still unaccustomed to hearing Chance actually speak. He was right in front of my face, eyes as glimmering as the sea. I couldn't physically tell if he was going to cry or if he was just scared or what else. But I did _feel_ something inside of me growing. Like this foreign presence that made me feel… I don't know: forgiving.

He leaned forward and gave my nose a gentle lick. _"Please don't be scared, Daddy. It's not your fault."_

"…H-How would you know that?" I asked, still shaken from my actions.

 _"_ _I don't know; I could just feel it. You look like your scared. I don't want you to be scared. I want you and Mommy to be happy and strong like you always are!"_ He spoke through my mind as he went and nuzzled against my stomach.

I could hear a few teasing 'awws' in the crowd and responded by giving them a stare that said do you really want that to be your last word?'

Dean gave a muffled 'hmph' and left back to his quarters, just as all the other workers returned to their daily duties. Us four on the other hand stayed. Chance and I continuing our familial embrace while Melanie watched with a content, almost tearful smile on her face. The mutt just copied Dean's actions and turned away, refusing to look at us. I smiled halfheartedly; while things were indeed looking pretty good right now, I knew that this PTSD thing would become a major problem in the future if I didn't learn to control it healthily. More so if I was to continue improving my aura abilities.

* * *

So a day passed and not much has really happened aside from the fact of seeing several flying species of pokemon that were both foreign and familiar. I recognized the swellow, pidgeot, and the pelipper species in the air during the day. Unfamiliar species during this time were an eagle species known as breviary, and another typical bird known as startaptor. In the sea during the same time, I saw mantines, and their younger forms to my surprise, as well as seadras, tentacruel, and wailords. During the night, I was captivated by the illumination patterns of lantern and another new species known as lumineon taking total control of the sea. Such a sight was like a visual drug… to those that are more appealed to the natural beauty of the world.

So the hours came and went and I found myself the main deck of the ship, enjoying myself with the crew, the Captain, Dean (surprisingly), and Melanie as we celebrated the anniversary of the Foresight, anchored down about half a days away from Mossdeep. Chance and Riolu were off in our room sleeping; Melanie's idea to keep them from becoming trouble to the crewmen or the other way around.

Oh it was truly a fun time I had. Granted, with some old friends, and a stripper or two, it could've been a night to remember. But the amount of liquor that Abraham supplied us all mixed with the cuisines, games, fuckery, and stories, it was perhaps the best time I've had in a while.

I played a drinking game with Abraham which ended in an anticlimactic draw. The thing that surprised me and filled me with joy to no end was a special liquid, a remedy, that Melanie could brew using her berries that could eliminate the side-effects of drinking too much alcohol. Pretty much: all the fun, none of the hangover and mental influence. So needless to say that we recovered pretty quick and carried on with the night's activities.

There were musicians on board that played guitar, bongos, a fiddle, and an accordion in a strange, yet pleasant harmony of sounds and noises. If I had money, I'd give them all of it for how well they played together.

Melanie and I were sitting next to each other, joined with several other crewmen, Abraham, and Dean around a metal safe metal fire pit where we all shared stories. Abraham told me of his ventures across the seas, seeing new lands and bringing commerce and trade internationally across the conglomerate of islands, or as I came to know them – regions – this landmass had to offer. He told of how Melanie had helped him with his business to the point of commercial success.

When it was my turn to share stories, I almost slipped and began telling stories back from my world that were sure to make everyone laugh. But remembering that we told everyone I had actually lost my memory, I had to face the sad truth and admit my bullshit lie."

"I'm sorry everyone, but I really don't have a story tell. I've lost my memory when I shipwrecked so it's a no go me." The men around the fire gave friendly no's and sad sentiments.

"Do you remember any songs?" A lightbulb had suddenly hit me on the head. I couldn't tell a story, but you can't just forget a favorite song.

I pointed to the gentleman with the guitar, "Can I borrow that?" He simply smiled and handed me the stringed instrument while everyone else gave cheers at my decision. I strummed a few chords and individual strings to check the tuning for the song I wanted to play. I did play guitar in my youthful years; rather pretty well if you could ask others that knew me back then.

'Perfect; it's completely ready for the song.'

"When I start the song, can you guys play along in tune?" I asked the other musicians, to which I received raised mugs in reply. I looked at Abraham. I looked at Dean. I looked at the men aboard the vessel.

I looked at Melanie and leaned to whisper in her ear, "Does everyone know what a train is?" She giggled and nodded her head: my signal to begin.

 **(Folsom Prison Blues** by **Johnny Cash)**

I began by strumming a fast-paced, catchy, folk tune, using my tapping foot to keep the rhythm and my bouncing head to get into the beat. What could I say? I like all music, but I'm a country kind of guy:

 **"** **I hear the train a comin'  
It's rolling 'round the bend  
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when  
I'm stuck in Folsom, and time keeps draggin' on  
But that train keeps a rollin' on down to San Antone**

The musicians were playing as perfectly as they could. They were completely in sync with how I wanted the song to sound. I could see others tapping their feet as well or bobbing their heads in beat with the music. And me? I just kept playing; like I had actually lived that song.

 **When I was just a baby, my mama told me, "Son  
Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns"  
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die  
When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry**

As I looked around some more, the faces were starting to change. Faces that were once filled with merry glee from the party, now took on a more mournful aspect as they listened to the words of the song. I just kept playing. I did the small guitar solo myself, allowing myself to melt my very existence into playing this song while the other musicians played around me.

 **I bet there's rich folks eating from a fancy car  
They're probably drinkin' coffee, and smokin' big cigars  
Well I know I had it coming, I know I can't be free  
But those people keep a-movin'  
And that's what tortures me**

By now, I couldn't hear anything else but the song. My voice, the instruments: they were the only things I could hear. Everything else was unimportant. Even the men's solemn faces I ignored in favor of staring into the soul of the crackling fire in front of me.

 **Well if they freed me from this prison  
If that railroad train was mine  
I bet I's move it on a little farther down the line  
Far from Folsom Prison, that's where I want to stay  
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away…**

But let's face it: I'm not free from this train…

Not yet.

* * *

 **a/n**

 **And that's the fourth chapter. A lot kind of happened in this chapter so I'm glad I fit in as much as I can. Any questions you guys have on this chapter? Did you guys like my explanations of the world Michael's in compared to the 'actual' Pokemon world logic? Any suggestions for what Pokemon Michael will meet on this journey?**

 **Don't forget to follow and review your thoughts on the story. So until next time!**

 **Chapter 5: Sootopolis**

 **[Post- 23 May 2016 a/n]**

 **What do you guys think of the altered evolution mechanics?**


	5. Sootopolis Pt 1

**And another one. I finished this chapter pretty quick with the laxity of the last two weeks giving me time to work on it. However, just a disclaimer, the next chapter might take a while. Not sure though, it's a 50/50 chance.**

 **Tythesly1 : She forced his mind to bring back memories of what he was talking about, which happened to be Chance. The mechanics of what happened afterwards will be explained later on in the story.**

 **I do not own pokemon or the words used in this chapter...**

 **(SPOILER ALERT) ...Nor do I own the mario bros.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Sootopolis Pt 1**

"LAND HO!"

Instantly, cheers and shouts erupted throughout the ship, waking the four of us up from our sleep. I yawned, stretched, and scratched my ass as I rolled over to look out the small window. The only bit of land I could see was a small inclination rising from the sea at the very left of the glass. It was barely visible, but I knew it to be much larger than my own view. I didn't think someone would just call out 'land ho' for a small island we had no intention of reaching in the first place.

"Oh, right on time," Melanie said with expectation in her voice.

 _"_ _Are we there yet?"_ Chance asked groggily, giving cute little fox yawns every fifteen seconds.

"Yep, we're there," I answered chuckling at just how funny the little guy was.

Melanie and I both gathered our belongings into our respective bags and the four of us left the cabin; making sure it was, for the most part, clean for the next inhabitants. It was actually my idea to tidy the place up a little. I had to explain to Melanie's shock how the military, regardless of how rough we are, could, and did without choice, clean anything up spotless within a matter of minutes.

We made our way to the main deck where Abraham and Dean were focusing their eyes and the large mass of land getting larger by the minute. The island turned out to have a large city with structures similar to that of an urban environment. There were houses as well as a couple of taller, more significant-looking buildings I could only assume were headquarters of business. Another thing I saw was on top of the tallest hill was a dome-like structure with something protruding from it: a large telescope.

I vaguely remembered the game having a location that was dedicated to the science of space exploration; I guess this was it. However, as we got closer, something seemed off about the style and design of everything. Looking closer at each individual item, there was nothing wrong; but taking a glance at the big picture, there was just something off that made everything strange.

 _"_ _Well you are from another world,"_ Melanie spoke in my head.

I chuckled, _"I didn't think you were listening to my thoughts. I guess your right… but still. Even being from another world, it just seems off."_

 _"_ _Well, get over it: we're about to dock."_ True to her word, the pier came faster than I had anticipated; making me wonder just how long I was thinking about the geography of the island.

The next half an hour was quite hectic with the captain and first mate shouting orders while the crew was running about making sure everything is ready to depart the ship for the next few days.

I quietly walked up to Abraham, giving him a light tap on the shoulder to which he responded by turning around swiftly with an almost crazed look in his eye. Upon looking at me, his look softened, but remained hardy with a smile.

"MICHAEL! WHAT IS IT YOU REQUEST AS OF NOW? JUST KNOW I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ACOMPLISH IT IMMEDIATELY."

"Hey Abe, you uh, remember our little wager last night, correct?" I asked, referring to our drinking competition.

"OH YES I DO LAD! ONE THOUSAND ATEN IF YOU COULD MAKE IT PAST 10 MUGS AND TEN THOUSAND IF I LOSE, CORRECT?"

"Right you are there cap! Now uh, just so you remember, both of us made it to 14 mugs and we tied. So I was wondering if, since you didn't win, would you call that a loss on your part or…"

"BLIMEY NO LAD, THE TERMS WERE IF YOU WON, NOT IF I LOST…" I watched with a snicker as he thought carefully about his words. "Alright I'll give you five thousand. Deal?" He said offering his hand.

With a firm grip, I shook his hand, "Deal."

Sooner than I had realized, the four of us, Melanie, Chance, the mutt, and myself, departed the ship and made our way to the local inn where Melanie would get someone to keep the two furry rascals company while we were out conducting our business.

Once we had reached sight of the inn, I broke off from them, telling Melanie that I wanted to see what supplies from the local that they had which I could use during my travel. She let me go after we agreed to come back to the inn by dusk.

So we went our separate ways for the time being as I checked out the local market. Again, the layout of everything was familiar but all too different as well. They had a produce section as well-maintained as a farmer's market. And they also had other small shops selling goods that ranged from furniture to little trinkets. Granted, everything was limited in stock. I didn't expect a small population to have the need for a supermall, but at least something that one could maybe want or use was available for sail. They also had a main shop that looked like it was part of a chain, selling over the counter medicine, boxed and canned foods, and other convenience items.

As I looked around, I had taken interest in several objects for sale. One on my top priority was a watch or timepiece so I can at least keep myself on a personal schedule. Another was a hardcover journal and writing utensil or perhaps just a small notepad and pen for quick notes should I ever need to. However, I didn't buy these items immediately because I wanted to explore everything before I made any final purchases.

Though, through my little stroll, I was taken by the image of a man walking in the opposite direction. He wore regular clothes consisting of brown shorts and a light-gray t-shirt with flip flops to fit the summer look. But that was nothing compared to what I noticed almost immediately after looking at his hand: a plastic bottle filled with a semi-thick, dark liquid. Looking at his face, my attention was fully grasped by what he had in his mouth; in his lower lip to be more specific.

I halted in place, knowing that all too familiar look of a man with a dip in. My tongue automatically moved, exploring the crevice that reigned between my own lower lip and gums. My fingers began twitching and a slowly walked over to him.

"Excuse me, sir."

"Yes? Can I help you?" he replied in a friendly tone.

"Yes you can actually. Now I don't mean to be weird or anything, but I noticed that you had a little something in here," I said, pointing to my own jaw. He slightly tilted his head in question.

"Bellsprout leaves?"

"Yes! Er… I mean I guess if that's what you call it. Do you know where I can get some of it here?" I asked, hands shaking like I had been addicted to crack most of my life.

"Oh yeah," he turned around, "about five or six shops down on the left you'll see the place. It's called 'Miguel's Herb & Drink.'"

I shook his hand in thanks and made my way quickly to the shop. True to his word, Miguel's was right there in all its glory. It was a small setup, being a shack with liquor on the shelves in the back and what appeared to be the holy substance under the counter. There was a sign under the label that, as soon as I looked at it, my eyes became blurry for a few seconds. I scratched them and looked back at the sign that read: "No children!"

I didn't care; I was only mesmerized by the small, round tins I came here for. I didn't even look twice at the deranged looking plant with a yellow bulb at the top slightly dancing and wiggling around off in the back wall of the shack. My mind was set on one thing. I smiled…

I was walking down the street, back to the inn as the sun prepared to descend over the horizon when I was stopped by a rather gorgeous looking woman holding a piece of paper in her hand. She was brown-skinned and brunette, her wavy hair falling just over her shoulders. She was wearing a simply designed pink sundress that did her well in promoting her womanly assets.

"Hello, are you going to be attending tonight's Solar and Lunar festival just below the Mossdeep telescope?" I smiled at how fluid this girl was talking to me. I understand that it was an advertisement, but the way she spoke, I would've figured she was looking for a partner to attend with.

"A festival? I wasn't even aware of such an occurrence," I replied as sophisticated as I could.

"Oh yeah, it'll be fun. There's games, food, drinks, dances; I'm sure you'll have a good time."

"If you're there I might." She giggled and looked to the ground with her arms crossed.

"Maybe," she said provocatively as she looked into my eyes.

'Smooth, Michael. Let's keep this up!' I said in my mind.

"Well whenever it starts, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for you." More giggles were elicited from her.

"Well, I don't think we should be strangers when I see you later. My name's Nadira," she said sweetly. Her hands moved behind her back as she talked.

"I agree, my name's… Oh fuck me…" I said with a sigh.

"Michael!" Melanie yelled as she speed walked from behind the girl to me.

"Michael," I told the girl with a twirl of my hand.

"Oh… fuck me Michael?" She asked without a single clue to what she offered.

"Gladly!" I exclaimed, laughing at myself on the inside.

"Michael, what are you doing?" Melanie asked with a vein popping on her forehead.

"Oh, well, _Nadira_ here was inviting me to the festival tonight, and I was thinking of going."

"What? No! We have work to do tomorrow!"

"Tsk, yes but that's _tomorrow. This_ is tonight. Come on, she says it'll be fun…"

"Michael, we are about to meet a very respected leader tomorrow. You need to be professional when you meet him or else we won't get want we came for. I expected you to be mentally preparing yourself, given your history of behavior," I shot back with a 'hey' which Nadira giggled at and Melanie kept going, "But instead I find you here flirting with another woman."

"Look, I'm not flirting with her and trust me I'll be fine for," I paused, a thought rising to the surface of my mind and an evil smirk onto my face. "Are you getting jealous?"

"Jealous? What the- no I'm not getting _jealous!_ I barely even know you!" she shouted, red covering her face in embarrassment.

"Oh come on, you took care of me for two weeks while I was in a coma. You sponge-bathed me!"

"Aw, poor thing, you were out cold?" Nadira asked almost as if she didn't hear the embarrassing last part of my sentence.

"Oh, don't even get me started on that," I exaggerated, half joking, half serious.

"You were unconscious! Pardon me for not getting well acquainted to someone who couldn't talk!"

"Well you sure got well acquainted with Richard during those sponge baths," I said automatically before I began wishing I hadn't.

"What? I don't get it?" I sighed heavily in relief.

"I do," Nadira spoke with an all too friendly wink.

"Oh," I let out, my eyes wide in anticipation.

"Are you kidding me?!" I snapped out of my daze and looked back to Melanie with honest apology. She didn't buy.

"Do you have a communicator?" Nadira asked, taking a step closer to me.

"Well that depends on what you mean by 'communicator…' do you mean cell phone?"

"That's what I said, a cell phone," she giggled. I just played along.

"Well then yes I do. I happen to just have bought one right here." I reached into my pocket and grabbed the small flip phone with rough features that made it look like a walkie-talkie that could survive the apocalypse ten times over in the mountains.

Nadira grabbed the durable device, making sure she brushed my hand very delicately in the process, and began punching buttons into it. When she was done, she handed it to me on the contacts page with her name and a heart right next to it. All the while, Melanie just stared deep into my soul with her arms crossed, silent as a prowling lioness.

"Call me some time," Nadira said as she waved a goodbye to me and began walking away. I watched her leave as she put extra emphasis on swaying her hips. I sighed in satisfaction.

"Ahem," a pissed off, feminine voice growled.

Satisfaction gone, aaaaand fear ensues.

"Uh… do _you_ have a cell phone?" I sheepishly asked, unable to think of anything else while she began walking away. "Even in another world… women are just as hard to figure out…"

"Did you at least get some useful supplies?" She asked once we returned to our room. It was a simple two-bed room with a box television and clean latrine; everything a traveler needs.

"Oh did I ever! Just look at my beautiful merchandise!" I opened my bag and pulled out a couple of strange looking bottles. "I got medicine in case any of us run into some trouble, which, with my luck, is sure to happen," Riolu yipped and chuckled. "I also have a map of Hoenn so I'm sure we don't get lost…"

"What's the matter? You don't trust my navigational skills?" Melanie quipped.

"Woah, woah, woah there! What are you trying to say?" She just shook her head and motioned for me to continue, laughing all the while. "Let's see… clothes… medicine… map… watch… phone… trail mix… empty bottle… and… oh yeah I completely forgot!"

"Forgot wh…" She paused as she looked to what I was doing. It was nothing much, just getting a big ole pinch of tobacco into my lip and groaning in relief. The leaves immediately began cutting into my lip, releasing the nicotine into my bloodstream and creating a wave of high over my body that forced me to take a seat as I spit out the byproduct.

"Oh yeah… that's the stuff!" I released in one exhale. I looked to Melanie, and she wore a face I haven't even seen before. "What?"

"…Are you seriously chewing on bellsprout leaves?"

"Woah, let's get something straight here: I'm not chewing, I'm dipping. There's a tremendous difference."

"And how much did you purchase?" Her arms were once again crossed as she looked down on me.

"A whole box I think. Not that big… should be about 24 tins inside… make that 23."

"How much did you spend?" She swallowed. I did too; in hindsight, buying this much tobacco perhaps wasn't the smartest idea.

"With all the shit I bought… I'd have to say I have about…" I trailed off, afraid to share my guilty answer.

"What was that?!"

"I have about 500 aten left or whatever they're called…"

Silence ensued, and I swore I could hear the sound of 'Reveille' playing in my head in tune to the beat of her closure onto me. I looked into those golden irises, and I never thought I'd see anything as bright as they were ever again.

* * *

The night came and went like the passing of days and I found myself having second thoughts. Earlier in the dark morning, Melanie and I left the inn and headed to the hills of the island populated with lush greenery. I put on a change of clothes consisting of a nice pair of jeans and a white hoodie with a pair of what I believed to be tactical hiking boots from a shoe shop yesterday. We had been walking silently, mostly because I had a lip in, until she stopped altogether, almost making stumble a bit from her abruptness.

"We're here?"

"We're here…" She handed me her bag, which was mostly empty albeit some of her homemade remedies and medicines, and I placed it in mine. I emptied it out earlier save for a few cans of dip and the medicine I bought yesterday. Like I said: no chances.

So where did these second thoughts come from? They came from me as I stared at Melanie morphing into her draconic figure and looking at me expectantly. She wanted me to get on.

Sure I've done plenty of dangerous tasks and missions in my previous life, but as the great, modern Sherlock Holmes said, 'I don't want anything with a mind of its own boggling about between my legs.'

 _"_ _Sherlock Holmes? Who's that?"_ I spit the tobacco out, came forward and prepared to climb aboard her back, but stopped and looked her in the eye.

"Is this whole mind reading thing a 50/50 chance with you? Because you do it pretty sparingly." She stared and I accepted that as my signal to just get on. It was a little tricky trying to position my legs so they wouldn't interrupt her wings while in flight. Finally, I made up my mind to just lay belly-down.

 _"_ _Evidently, only with you my friend."_

"I guess that makes me feel… a little better?"

Suddenly, I felt pressure building in a certain part of my body, bringing forth embarrassment as well as stress. It was too late in the early day for this to be happening. I shut my eyes tightly and attempted to solve simple math problems in my head to get rid of the feeling. Unfortunately, …

 _"_ _What is that?"_ an innocent tone spoke, invading my head with regret and guilt.

"Please… just please ignore it…" I decided to push my mind onto another subject. Perhaps what is about to happen seemed like a good idea. "And by the way, how fast do you normally travVVVEEEEEEEEELLLLLL! AAAAAAAAHH!"

Without warning, she gave a mighty flap of her wings and we were airborne going about 70 miles per hour. In a car, this was durable. Without a windshield, not so much. As she increased her speed, I found myself screaming in higher pitches like a little girl. It wasn't long before the urge to let something out of my mouth, other than my voice, took over my focus. I felt and twitched as the bile in my system creeped its way up my throat, threatening to ruin Melanie's day, and mine as well by default.

 _"_ _Don't you even think about it!"_ she yelled as the vomit made its way into my mouth, forcing me to block its exit and swallow it back down. I shivered from the taste. Before long, I was compelled to literally release my inner demons once again. I felt I was unable to repeat my last action forever, so I sent a quick prayer to God and a silent apology to many as I leaned over the edge of her neck and spewed. It lasted a good 15 seconds, allowing bliss to ensue from letting the darkness escape me.

 _"_ _Can you just make me sleep?"_ I asked her. She remained silent, but I immediately felt something change in the atmosphere around me. The wind and the cacophony of its speed had disappeared, allowing me to breathe and not go deaf. I was still hugging Melanie's neck with my eyes shut tight, afraid to fall to my death without a parachute.

I had to accustom myself to the rapid decline of speed, causing myself to almost pass out. I peeked through the cracks of my eyelids just to see what had happened. And in all reality, nothing had changed. The ground was moving just as fast as before, if you could actually see the ground. We were over an ocean that went on for miles almost as far as the eye could see. I sat upright, confident in not feeling any wind that could blow me off.

And I thought I'd seen some pretty strange things in my life. From my perspective, Melanie was cruising at a constant elevation slightly above the level that the clouds resided at. They were scattered about in our area and there were little to none towards the west. The sun was barely creeping up over the horizon; its rays fanning out in segments like the Arizona flag. An endless sea of clouds surrounding that direction gave impression to a bed made of pure cotton. If it weren't for a loud chirp distracting me, I probably would have gone blind from losing myself in the lucidity of the big orange blob.

Peering my head over the dragon's right shoulder, a small flock of birds, consisting of braviary and pidgeot young and old each, were soaring across the sky. Some looked to us and began chirping louder; excited chirps from the sound of it.

"I wonder… what are they saying?"

 _"_ _They want me to acknowledge them,"_ her reply was almost monotone.

"What, like say 'hi?'"

 _"_ _Yes."_

"…Why do they want to?" At this point, I could hear a soft grunt/sigh coming from her draconic voice.

 _"_ _Contrary to what you've experienced, seeing a Latias or… Latios… it's pretty rare. Some even consider it a blessing. Others…"_ I smirked as a thought came to me.

"So would that make me blessed?" I asked with a chuckle.

 _"…_ _Remember your old life and then I'll tell you…"_

That was pretty cold. After that, I didn't want to continue our conversation. I wondered about why she was in such a pissy mood. Was it something I said? Something I did? Either way, regardless of what she was feeling, the good morality in me couldn't ignore her emotions, nor the loud chatterboxes to our right.

"I think they really want you to say 'hello' to them." I said giving her a soft pat at the base of her neck. A bit of turbulence messed with her flight, causing me to stumble and hug her neck. I wondered, with so much control of her flight, if she did that on purpose. Besides the point, she didn't answer me, and the birds kept chirping away.

Then suddenly, I saw Melanie turn her head to the right, looking at the large and small birds who immediately silenced themselves, though still keeping their eyes on us. I heard a mental sigh on her end, and she reared her head back slightly. When she pushed it forward, she let out a loud roar. Though I wouldn't really call it a roar; more like a bellow or a song to me. It was smooth like a whale's call, and as melodic as a siren's song. I never expected something so… beautiful to come out of her mouth, after hearing the terrifying roar she gave me about a week ago when she had almost killed me.

I stared at her as the avian creatures gave screeches and calls of joy, happy that she had finally acknowledged them. While she, on the other hand, just kept looking forward, a bit of boredom in her eye from where I could see it. I decided against asking what was wrong, I didn't want to press on any old wounds while thousands of meters up in the air.

I could wonder about it, but I'd rather just enjoy the view from up here, occasionally petting her feathery body. It was soft and smooth, like putting my hand on the softest fleece. A glimmer of light shone in my face as the sun ascended even more, causing a bit of annoyance. Either way, in all reality, she was… stunning to look at… in both dragon and human form.

After about an hour of silence in the sky, a white mountain appeared from out of nowhere. It was surrounded by jagged rocks and was overall just a giant, circular cliff. But the only thing off about the sight, if there wasn't anything to begin with, was the fact that I wasn't looking at a mountain, I wasn't even looking at an island. No: I was looking at a giant crater. The diameter of the edges of the crater couldn't have been less than 30 miles. And as we drew nearer, the edges were more like walls; the inside of the crater descended to reveal a large, most visually simplistic city.

As if she was reading my thoughts, Melanie gave a low grumble and began descending towards the village of Sootopolis.

 _"_ _Stay low…"_ she commanded calmly. Of course I was surprised by the subtle display of control, but years of service and force of habit compelled me to do so, as well as put me on edge. There was a reason for her telling me to do this, so I had to expect trouble soon.

As sudden as a jump scare, a terrifying shriek was heard from all sides. I clutched tighter to Melanie while looking around for the source as she kept closing the distance to the village.

I felt it again, that sense of impending danger coming from…

"ON YOUR LEFT!" She immediately dropped altitude and I looked upwards. A glint of silver going at an incredibly fast speed caught my eye. I couldn't make it out entirely, but it definitely had wings. It screeched again and banked around, allowing it to see us. I kept a sharp eye as it began flying toward us, picking up speed as gravity and its aerodynamic build did its work.

I charged an aura sphere in my right hand, ready to release as soon as it gained the appropriate distance.

"It's coming back!"

 _"_ _Don't strike it!"_ I glanced back at her, worried about the sanity of her intentions.

"I'm sorry but I'm not sure about that… DODGE!" She banked upwards this time, causing the silver bird to miss and shriek again. "I'm not all too comfortable with dying right now!"

 _"_ _Just don't! Trust me; if you strike that thing, then you can kiss your way back home goodbye!"_

"DODGE!" Another descent and another miss. But no cry; instead, it turned to us and began making another noise. One that was horrid and abominable to the eardrum. It sounded like the grinding of metal amplified tenfold. I shut my eyes, but couldn't cover my ears without risking letting go of her and falling. We still had some ways to go if we were to make it down safely.

"Melanie!" I growled.

 _"_ _Just trust me for once!"_ I didn't know what to do. I was facing either death, or perhaps never making it back home again. I looked to the ground and noticed we were almost there. In a split second decision, caught between the actions of landing, and the shrieking bird on our tail, I clutched Melanie tighter and prayed.

 _"_ _Don't make me regret this!"_ I told her mentally.

I felt her shift upwards and turn upside down, which, after so much motion, made me let go and drop into some bushes. It took some effort, but I was able to stand up and peek my head out from the vines and leaves to get eyes on the battle overhead. The metal, cacophonic noise ceased and was replaced by the bird's regular screech.

I looked back to Melanie, who had done a complete 360 and was now hovering in air, facing the flying chunk of steel. She reeled her head back and produced an earth-shattering roar that created strong vibrations in the ground similar to a small tremor. The bird cawed and fled away from the vicinity and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

That is until I heard numerous, masculine voices and shouts coming from every direction. Melanie had flicked her wings over her form and changed her appearance. Only this time, she was wearing a dress of regal appearance. Damn I forgot the name of it… no wait… a kimono. Yeah, it was a royal-looking kimono. Its material was white satin with golden trims and a scarlet sash-looking thing around her midsection. Her blonde hair was put up into a sort of intricate bun.

Once the transformation was complete, she carefully dropped onto both knees and put her forehead onto the ground where her hands rested, positioning herself in a sort of bow to no one in particular.

 _"_ _Get out of the vegetation and follow my lead…"_ I almost laughed out loud.

"I'm not going to _bow_ to anyone!"

 _"_ _Either bow, or die. Pick."_ Of course it was that specific ultimatum. God, is it always this or death with her?

Eventually after moments of sulking and apologizing to my past and present self, I hopped out of the bushes and partook in a replicated bowing position to her left. Good thing I did too, about a hundred guard-looking personnel came into the area. I couldn't see what they looked like, nor what they wielded as weapons. I only heard their voices and the metallic equipment they had on them. I listened carefully as the voices quieted down, and a single pair of footsteps made its way to the both of us.

A thought came up to me, and I made effort to relax myself as much as possible. I focused on the environment around me, taking in every scent, every sound, every gust of wind, the feel of the sod underneath my body. I focused on all of it, and tried to recollect the image of the area through my memory.

Every breath was deeper and slower, and as seconds passed, so was the image becoming clearer. Yes, I was doing it; I was beginning to see through my aura just as before. The familiar blueish hue was there, as well as the trees, but everything was blurry. I needed more focus. I needed more…

* * *

{3rd Person}

'Oh no… please tell me he's not-' Melanie thought.

*snore*

* * *

{Michael's POV}

"Wake up!" I heard someone shout out before I felt something hit my head. I snapped myself out of whatever kind of focus I head and looked up. It was a tall, bulky man wearing a sort of armored getup. He had a thin chest piece that was silver donning a sky-blue pattern of some sort. His lower body was protected by silver plates around his waist and silver chin-plates; each trimmed with the same sky-blue color. He wore a silver, domed helmet, again trimmed with blue, that covered most of his head except for a wide opening exposing his eyes, nose, and mouth. He was equipped with a wooden lance tipped with a rather large and metal arrowhead and a circular, metal shield.

"Am I in Sparta now?" I asked unimpressed. He simply scrunched his face and turned his head in confusion. "Ugh nevermind…"

 _"_ _What do you think you're doing?!"_ I heard in my head.

 _"_ _Uh… small talk?"_

 _"_ _They can't understand you!"_

 _"_ _What do you mean?"_ I heard an exasperated grunt in my head before she continued.

 _"_ _They speak a different language than you, so they can't understand anything you say."_

 _"_ _Oh, then that makes cursing all the more fun,"_ I relayed with a snicker before a sharp pain was felt in my head. _"Ow ow ow!"_

 _"_ _Don't you even dare!"_ she threatened with promise, _"Just let me do all the talking and we'll see if we can get what you want. Alright"_

 _"_ _Roger that, ma'am!"_

"State your business!" I heard the man say.

 _"_ _Raise your head."_ And I complied, finally relieved from doing a stupid bow to someone I don't even know.

"We want to speak to your chief. We have an important matter to discuss with him."

 _"_ _I thought you said they spoke a different…"_ I asked before being rudely interrupted.

"What possible matter is there to discuss with a _chimera?!_ " He questioned with venom dripping from that particular word. I don't know why, even though he wasn't talking to me, but I felt immensely insulted by his tone.

"Hey now what the hell is with the name-calling?!"

"Silence!" Melanie scolded. I looked at her in disbelief.

 _"_ _You're just going to take that?!"_ I asked, incredulous at her passive nature; especially when she can't tolerate me at times.

"Please understand; it isn't for me, it's for this human to my left. He has… been misplaced in terms of worlds. I've come to know your village believes in the abnormalities in time and space, or rather the conflict between the earth and the sea. This man needs help." There was a brief period of silence as the guard in front of us contemplated her words.

"Alright. As you may know, we refuse to help you chimeras, but we cannot refuse to help our own… Follow me.

I remained staring at Melanie, still shocked at why she just let that insult go, and perplexed at her talent for negotiation. As I stood up, I thought about just how long she had been working on that talent, how many years in her life were spent on persuasion.

Melanie and I were escorted from our landing area to the chief's humble abode. While I was walking, I noticed that there were no pokemon… or wild pokemon to be accurate. There were… others within the village. Pokemon either working or acting as guards… but something was off. As I looked at what appeared to be a tauros tending to a crop, it moved slowly while staring down at the ground. It hadn't increased its effort until a farmer came near and began flogging it. Looking elsewhere, I saw machop almost everywhere guarding the streets in the village. They each had thick arms and legs and retained their blue-gray skin tone. Their faces resembled that of a reptilian and had three, sharp bones protruding from the top of their head like a faddish hairstyle.

I watched as one that was guarding next to the giant lake reached down and picked up some water with a cupped hand. He brought it to his face to drink and two human guards came by and began swatting him with wooden batons. Humans that drank water, on the other hand, were left to be.

I felt so much pity for them. Was this what the real pokemon world was like? When I was a kid watching their tv show, human's and pokemon were inseparable, almost like twins. But here… here they were treated like slaves without any worth, like they were easily replaced.

 _"_ _I know you're thinking of hurting them… but don't."_

 _"_ _Why not?! This isn't right! I came to this world and thought… I thought it would meet the expectations I had from my world. But putting them into slavery?! Disrespecting them?! Melanie, what the fuck is going on?!"_ I ranted without giving a single damn if I said 'fuck' or not. This wasn't right. The tauros I may have wrongly overlooked for it seemed to be a regular ox. But the machop looked almost human to me. I saw its face, and despite the differences, they held the same human expression of despair.

 _"_ _I'll tell you when we leave. It's… a long story."_

So I bit my lip and kept moving, forcing myself to just stare at the ground; forcing myself to ignore what is going on around me.

Eventually we made it to a two-story structure that appeared to be made of the sediment making up the crater this village was in. At its front door were two human guards standing with discipline and pride, and on the roof, which I conceived to be a flat-top, were four equally disciplined men watching over the land.

"Wait here…" said the guard who escorted us here before he entered the building. While waiting, I looked around some more to take in whatever scenery that surrounded us. I took note that there were no pokemon whatsoever; just humans. Kids running around playing, women socializing while working on fishing poles. And a few men that appeared high-class if their flashy robes were anything to go off of.

About five minutes later, the guard opened the door and motioned for the two of us to come in. The rest of the squad that came with us were ordered to stand guard outside – some facing out… and some facing in.

Stepping into the house felt like stepping into a Pueblo cliff-dwelling. Some of the furniture, such as bookcases, a staircase, and shelves, were molded out of the same material as the house, more like built in if you asked me. But they did retain some modern advances such as cushioned furniture, decorative tables and chairs, and electrical lighting. Paintings adorned the house like apps on a modern-day smartphone in my world. Some were intricate and well-conceived. Others were… abstract.

But aside the culture of the house, we were taken to a room in the back that resembled a sort of conference room with a large, rectangular table in the center surrounded by… pillows. Despite being from a different world, this place oddly resembled some of Japanese culture, especially from looking at the way Melanie 'dressed' herself for this meeting.

And sitting at one end of the table was him, the chief. Now if Japanese culture hadn't hit me yet, this guy's appearance just slapped me with everything they had. He wore a blue and silver, satin robe with a black belt to secure it to his form. He sat, or rather kneeled, on the cushion under him with his arms at his thighs. His face said 60 years old by looking at his wrinkles and long, white, kept facial hair. The hair on his head was tied back into a ponytail and his eyes were shut as if in deep thought. A clay cup of hot tea rested on the table before him, fresh from the kettle.

"Sit." The guard ordered us. Melanie bowed and complied while I just gave him a thumbs up and my cheery, pseudo-smile. A woman around the age of 30 came by and placed cups of tea in front of the two of us, bowed, and left.

"I see you've returned to us." The old man said without opening his eyes.

"Yes, indeed your lordship," Melanie responded back respectfully.

"And you've brought a guest?"

"Yes."

"… Am I to understand that this man is the reason for your appearance? And not any reason of yours?"

"Yes."

The old man breathed in deeply. Once he hit his deepest inhale, he opened his eyes and smiled, "How can I help you then." Honestly, I was a bit taken back from his sudden shift in attitude, but then again: who was complaining. I decided to stick to the plan and keep my mouth shut while Melanie did all then talking. So I just took a sip of the tea, which was surprisingly good.

"Well, I guess to start from the beginning-"

"Not you, _chimera!_ " He scolded without an ounce of mercy. I looked between the two, between Melanie's shocked face and the chief's stern one. It took me a couple seconds of awkward silence to realize it was I who was supposed to be talking apparently.

"I'm sorry, but he can't speak your language, I'm here to inter-"

"Say there, young lad, can you understand what I am saying?" He asked me without even looking in my direction.

"Y-yes I can," I nearly whispered. Melanie looked to me in disbelief, as if she had seen a ghost. Though I wasn't too sure of why.

"You see; he can speak for himself. No use for a _chimera_ like you to do any talking at all."

Again, that word sent a deathly feeling running up and down my spine and I felt my body heating up until Melanie put a hand on my shoulder.

 _"_ _It's alright. Please, just let it go and get what we came here for. I believe in you."_ I don't know what exactly it was, but it sure helped me to compose myself before making any irrational decisions.

"Umm, yes… the beginning…" So I told him everything about how I got here, starting with the day I had been framed and my ex-fiancé abandoning me. I told him every detail: how long I was in jail, the trials, the escape, on the run, up to the point where Matthew dropped me into the river. He nodded in understanding at some points and shook his head in pity at others. All the while, he kept sneaking glances at Melanie every now and again, glaring daggers at her for every move she made. Every cough, every adjustment, every sip of tea, which actually turned out to be just water when I glanced and noticed the lack of steam compared to mine.

Regardless, Melanie kept her hand on my shoulder the entire time, easing my stress and worry for her emotional state.

"And so, I hear an earth-shattering roar and, all of a sudden, I start seeing bright lights of all the colors in the rainbow, everything started moving again, and I blacked out. Melanie here found me unconscious, took me to her residence, and nursed me for two weeks before I came to."

At this point he began a soft chuckle. "Ah, a chimera helping a human, such _nobility._ Say, what did she get out of it?" He asked with a wry smile.

"Umm.. e-excuse me?" I asked, unsure of how to take his word, and unsure of what exactly they meant.

"Well she saved you right?" I nodded. "So what did she ask of you? Eternal service? Atens? A sacrifice to prove loyalty?" I could hear a few snickers around us coming from some guards and other civilian-looking people.

"Nothing. She just saved me out of the goodness in her heart," I said with a half chuckle, on the verge of hurling an aura sphere square in his jaw. And out of nowhere, hysterical laughter filled the room. The chief, the guards, the men and women, hell even the children. I looked to Melanie and felt crippled. She stared at the cup in front of her with a broken expression, like there was nothing left in the world to her.

"Oh my goodness hahahah! That is quite the rich quality of humor you possess there, young lad! Can you believe that?! A _chimera,_ saving a human of all things, out of the _'goodness in her heart!'_ Hahahahah!"

My face twitched and I never felt a bigger feeling of murder rise inside of me for someone that was as pathetic as he was. Matthew was something else; he betrayed me and left me to die – I'll kill him for revenge once I get back. But this guy was just plain arrogant. Judging someone he barely even knows; judging _Melanie_ for Christ's sake! How could anyone feel the need or want to kick down someone as kind, caring, and surprisingly innocent as her?!

 _"_ _Please don't. I know how important getting home is to you, so I beg you, please don't worry about me. Don't mess this up for yourself."_

Again I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. How the fuck could she just sit there and take this?

 _"_ _It's all about the message to them. If I unleash wrath upon them, they'll only hate us more."_

 _"_ _Why do they hate you all?!"_ I asked, my fists curled and shaking.

Thee laughter in the room had died down and several clearing of throats were heard, the last one being the chief.

"Getting back on the matter at hand, you've disappeared from your world and arrived to this one with no answer as to how?" I nodded, to angry to speak with words. "Well, frankly I don't know how I could help you get back let alone provide answers to you.

"I've heard that your people guard a tower southwest of here. A tower that houses the legendary dragon, Rayquaza." The room became silent. No crickets chirping in the background silent, I mean dead silent. Not even a breeze blowing. The chief wiped off his smug grin and donned that iron face he used to scold Melanie before.

"You wish to see the great dragon?" Again I nodded. "Do you have a death-wish… boy?" I flinched at the connotation that word held, but shook it off.

"Back in my world, I'm already as good as dead. What I want to find out is why I'm still moving in this one. And I believe that _Rayquaza_ could at least provide me with some answers that evidently no one else can." The tension in the room was increasing at a steady rate; I felt it, and I'm positive that Melanie feels it even greater.

"Allow me to share with you a legend passed down from our ancestors. There was a time on this world that was ruled and governed by great colossi and chimera alike. We humans, no matter how hard we tried to gain independence and strength to fight back, were always knocked back down by them without reason. Now as strong as chimera were in numbers, the colossi were even greater in sheer strength. Two colossi, Behemoth and Leviathan, were given an unfair, divine dominion over the land and sea respectively. Now as natural as land differed from sea, so did the two colossi relationship reflected that difference. Any time the two came within contact, catastrophe struck the area around them. Harsh sunlight and immense storms interchanging like the emotions of a madman. Their quarrel was unstoppable and always ended in havoc. That is… until another colossus, the great dragon, became fed up with the horror they put the world under. So he defeated the two of them easily and cursed them with a deep slumber. We were so thankful that their feud finally ended, that we built a large tower in respect and gratitude, allowing entrance to anyone that wishes to see it when it returned. But…those that did, never came back. My grandfather, in his youth, allied with a group of braves that entered the tower to look for the missing humans as well as find out why they disappeared. What he found was… atrocious. Burn marks over the walls on every floor, with unburned human silhouettes inside them. Decaying flesh of bodies ripped in two. They made it out safely, but my grandfather, who became chief, gave a lawful order across the region that forbid any human from entrance into the tower. So to keep that law enforced, he ordered half the village to leave and find their own land elsewhere near the tower. That small tributary housed the tower's guards and their families since then. Now, only priests may enter to provide offerings, but they are ordered not to trespass beyond the first floor."

When he finished his long and agonizing speech, he drank the rest of his tea, which was no doubt already cold by now.

"So basically, you don't let anyone enter so they can be safe? Seems kind of redundant; might as well get rid of the guards and put up a warning sign."

"Not all humans are intelligent enough to listen…"

"Well maybe that's their own fault!" I said, a little louder than I had anticipated. I sighed, "Look, you train men here to be disciplined and listen to orders. And I'm willing to bet you tell them the reason for those orders… am I right?" He nodded, "Then implement the dangers of going into the tower at a school if you have one. Teach them discipline to not make stupid mistakes."

"Why are you fighting for someone else's rights?"

"Other than the fact that someone who's stupid enough to seek danger should receive it, I'm not. I simply want an easier entrance to talk to Rayquaza so I can find out how to get home… I don't belong here. I just don't." I said softly to myself.

"Well of course you don't. This chimera should have ended you on the spot or rather leave you to die. Tell me, do you really think you have been saved without a cost by a chimera bitch?" That did it. Every plea from Melanie remained silent as my rage blocked everything she tried to mentally send.

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" I yelled, fed up with his arrogance.

"Oh, it seems I have hit a nerve. And why is it I shouldn't call her that, boy? After all it's what she is," said the smug, old man, his grin even wider than before.

"That's not what she is! Look here, old man, I honestly haven't a clue to whatever the fuck 'chimera' means. But the way you refer to Melanie with that tells me you don't have an ounce of respect or honor in your fucking corrupted body!" As I looked around, I noticed the guards and civilians inside beginning to tense up; I mentally prepared myself for an escape should I need it soon.

"You want to know what a chimera is? Why you're looking at it; that's what they are, these monsters that inhabit our world. They are strong, and they certainly are getting more cunning. You've been living with one since your arrival to _our_ world. Tell me, have you met any humans within the first couple of days of living here?" I gave myself a moment without blinking and shook my head barely. "See? How do you know that _you_ aren't the corrupted one? I bet she hasn't told you what _her kind_ did to us humans not too long ago," he narrowed his eyes, "Would you… like to know?"

I looked at Melanie, my eyes as stone cold as they've ever been. She still retained that defeated look; I felt pity. But I was also drawn to his suggestion… no. It's Melanie's story. After all, she was the one that saved me… and didn't eat me. Conclusion: tower now; story later.

"That's her story to tell. She can tell me when she's ready," I spoke adamantly. Melanie stared at me with eyes that read question and gratitude. I gave a gentle smile and place my hand on hers. It was nothing, mind you… I did it simply for comfort so don't go making any rash conclusions.

"My that is rather admirable. But I digress, were getting off topic here…"

"No."

 _"_ _Michael! Don't!"_

"No? Whatever do you mean, boy?"

"I mean no. I want you to apologize to Melanie."

"Michael!"

"Oh, and why should I apologize to a demon like her?"

"Okay, I don't know any of the other pokemon you guys have on a personal level, but I do know Melanie. And since I've been here, she has been the kindest and sweetest _person_ that I have ever met. She doesn't deserve being kicked down over an old feud."

He sighed heavily and relaxed. "Well, I believe this meeting is over. Takeo, please escort them out of here."

"Oh this is far from over fuckface!"

"Now, what is that word you keep using?

"Besides the fucking point! APOLOGIZE!"

"I will _never_ apologize to a bitch like her!" He spat out.

Everything happened to fast even for me to recognize it. In a span of two seconds, I jumped from my seat, grabbing a knife a concealed within one of my boots, and lunged toward this poor leader with the edge of the knife intended to slice his neck. I stopped, unnaturally, with the edge about an inch from his neck. He dropped his calm mask and fear was evident on his face, until he looked behind me and smiled. Melanie had used her powers to hold me in place, preventing me to kill the bastard.

"What's the matter? Having second thoughts?"

"…Melanie… let me go!" I said in between heavy breaths hungry for blood.

"No… I can't let you," she said shakily.

"I sense a dispute between the two of you. I find myself lucky for you to step in, chimera. But I would be a fool to give a demon such as yourself my thanks. Seize them!"

I heard a loud thump and my body fell. Able to move again, I lunged at the chief before pain hit the right side of my head and blackness enveloped my vision.

* * *

When I came to, I was on the floor of a jail cell, my head throbbing in pain. I grunted as I sat up exploring the area around me. When I found Melanie sprawled out on the floor, I immediately rushed to check on her. She was still alive, thankfully, but just sleeping. She had a small bruise on the back of her neck.

"Melanie, wake up," I whispered, shaking her to wake up. It took a moment, but she came to as well.

"Wha-what happened? What?! No. No. No! NO!" She panicked, pulling the cell's rails as if they came off so easily.

"Hey, calm down, you just regained consciousness. Take it easy."

"Like your one to talk?!" she yelled, turning her head to look at me? "What the hell Michael?! I told you to stop!"

"You wanted me to stop?! You were just letting him walk all over you like you were one of his abused pets!"

"And _this,_ " she said wiggling the bars, "Is what happens if I retaliate! Not only this, but they would hate us more! Can you comprehend that? 'A chimera attacks a village chief,' in this world, who do you think is the victim?!"

"YOU ARE! Why would anyone think otherwise?!"

"Because almost all humans hate us! Of course they would believe their own kin, it's all about forming together to attack everything else to them! Don't you get that?"

It's true I haven't thought about it until now. But she's right. That's what we are; it's our nature to band together: us against them.

"I do, but that doesn't mean-"

"Doesn't mean what? That they wouldn't believe my species? That they wouldn't take your word over theirs? Well they would; and they do. Now Riolu and Chance are all alone. No one to take care of them for the time being. You have to think about these things, Michael. This is our world, not yours." Every word she said hit me upside the head with truth.

"…I'm… sorry," I barely whispered.

"*sigh*, no, it's my fault too… I told you we had a connection, right? An Aura connection?" I nodded. I still remember vividly the moment we formed it. "It allows you to feel what the person your connected to feels, but on a smaller scale."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Those emotions of anger and vengeance, they weren't exactly your own… I'm sorry." I didn't know what to say. Was she telling me that she put those in my head? Or perhaps was it…

"Did you put those emotions in my head on purpose?" Quick as a whistle she put her hands up and shook her head.

"Nonono I didn't do that! It's… its natural. You feel whatever I feel and vice versa. Neither your or I could control it." She hung her head. I chuckled and wrapped her in a hug. "Umm whaf are vuu voing?" She asked, her voice muffled into my chest.

"If it wasn't your fault then stop worrying about it," I said in attempt to cheer her up.

"But I told you those weren't your-"

"Yes they were. It doesn't matter where they came from; I still felt them and even now I stand by them. Just because they're shared doesn't mean they're any less real. Right?"

"I... I guess?"

"Good," I said to finish the conversation. I began looking around outside the cell for anything I could use to pick the lock. "Well let's see here… alright we have a couple of nails and a hammer. Maybe we could smash the nails to fit inside the lock…"

"Michael…"

"Oh no wait, we could just smash the lock itself with the hammer… but that'd make too much noise. We'd need something to blame if someone comes running…"

"Michael…"

"Aha! I could maybe throw some shit around in here, yelling in agony over being confined. Yeah that might work…"

"Michael…"

"Oh wait, I could-"

"MICHAEL!"

"Awyawah!" I flinched at her shouting my name. Her finger was pointing to a nail on the wall, just outside our cage, that held a ring full of keys. I clapped my hands.

"Eureka even better! We could take the key ring and bend it to make a lock pick…"

"Are you even serious right now?" Melanie asked unamused. I thought I was doing a pretty good job. But if duty calls…

"Like I said," I mentioned walking over to pick up the keys, "You're a killjoy."

As soon as I picked them from the nail, we heard guards coming nearby, and I hid the keys in my pockets.

"I told you I'm sorry, alright? Geeze I could've sworn I brought them with me," said one of the guards.

"Just hurry up and find them," said the other, more irritated one.

I simply played it off by leaning on the bars with the most carefree expression in the world. Melanie, on the other hand, just became suddenly interested in her hair.

"Hello there, assholes!" I said cheerily.

"Shut up prisoner!"

"Jesus, why you gotta be so harsh? Just trying to make small talk killing time. But just be glad you're not a flight attendant."

"What are you rambling on about?" The irritated one asked.

"What, you expect me to just rot in here without having a few good meals and conversations? You are so uncivilized if you think so."

He growled, "Luigi, are you done finding those keys yet?"

"Calm down, Mario. It's not like I would just leave them in open sight for anyone to see. You should expect me to forget how well I've hid them…"

"Hold up just one fucking minute," I spoke loudly, gaining the attention of the two. "Your names are Mario and Luigi?" It was unbelievable; I was about to have some good fun with these two.

 _"_ _Where is this going?"_

 _"_ _Oh just back to some memories."_

"What's it to ya, prisoner?" Mario spat.

"Well I just find it a coincidence that I find a short, fat man named Mario and a tall, skittish one named Luigi together… are you two brothers?"

"No!" shouted Mario.

"Yeah?" said Luigi, unsure where I was going with this.

"What the…" Mario smacked Luigi in the back of the head. "Why would you tell them that?"

"Well it's not like the information's going to bite us in the rear end if you tell someone!"

"Ladies, ladies, you're both very pretty. But still, you seem unsatisfied with life and your line of work. What's up?" I asked soothingly, coaxing them to spill some secrets.

"Who says I hate being a guard?!" Mario accused.

"You do every time you get off work!"

"What did I say-"

"Mario!" He turned to look at me. "Come on, I could see the truth in your eyes. Now look at mine. I have no power over this information seeing my status as a prisoner. So let me be someone you can talk to. Kay?"

"Umm… I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," he said worriedly.

"Believe me," I spoke looking straight into his soul, "I think you need this."

"Well… ugh ok I hate being a guard."

"There we go," I encouraged.

"It's just so… frustrating all the time. I mean, don't get me wrong, the perks are just splendid; the status, the pay, the attraction… But it's the stupid work we have to do like cleaning the chief's hut or tending to his garden. Sometimes, we have to wash his back!" He said under a whisper.

"Oh no," I feigned.

"Oh yeah, and it is disgusting let me tell you. I never knew an old man could have so many moles!"

"You know what Mario?"

"Yeah?"

"I know how you feel. It is just sick how they treat men of your potential with such shitty jobs and details. I mean, you could be fighting for territory or protecting from invaders. And you have the strength to do it, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Well, yeah I do a couple of exercises once a week to keep me in shape," he bragged sheepishly, "I mean, my favorite is doing stomach workouts to make my stomach more flat."

"It shows," I said hiding a snicker.

"No it doesn't don't flatter me too much..."

"No it does you're getting there I can see that! I mean, pull your top up a bit let me see. Melanie could you turn around?" She complied a little too willingly, but I saw the smile she was trying to hide.

The short and stocky man did so and out came 30 pounds of pure blubber. I had to bite a chunk of the inside of my cheek off to keep me from laughing. I did feel like an asshole, don't get me wrong, but this was just… oh my god.

"I mean; you could see what I'm trying to get rid of. It's not anything to be completely proud of…"

"What are you talking about? You're the picture of health. Now, granted we all have our physical flaws, so a little shaping up now and then is never a bad thing am I right? Am I right?" I laughed, they laughed. Good times.

I'll tell you what, Mario, a minute of situps; a minute of crunches; a minute of wide-armed situps; a minute of palms past the knees; a minute of v-ups; a minute of sky-reaches; a minute of flutter kicks; a minute of bicycle crunches; and 2 minutes of planking once every day. I guarantee you'll have that beach bod by the end of this month," I said with a smile.

"But that's tomorrow…"

"By the end of next month!"

"Alright, thank you so much!" he said as happy as a bird.

"Oh, come here you big teddy bear!" I asked, spreading my arms wide for a manly bear hug. He accepted, and while it was a little awkward with the bars and all, he embraced it lovingly.

"Oh I can't wait to tell my wife and kids how in shape I'll be!"

"Oh you have a family? What's the miss's name?"

"Peach. Here's a picture of her," he said while pulling a locket out from under his armor. Inside was a picture of a stunning woman with fair skin and blonde hair. And by stunning, I meant she was probably a whore.

"Wow, she really is a keeper. Where'd you two meet?"

"I saved her from a dungeon."

"No shit, get out of here!" I said, amazed myself.

"No, I didn't. I met her at one of those fancy bars with the girls at the edge of the village."

"Uh-huh… So Luigi? Do you have a special someone in your life? Perhaps by the name of Daisy?" After mentioning the name, he had suddenly tensed up and began shaking his head side to side as if begging me to stop. But I knew better.

"Luigi? You snagged yourself a girl?" Mario asked, but as much as Luigi tried to say no, he just made it easier to read yes. "Luigi, my brother is finally a man! Have you done the dirty yet?" He asked under a whisper.

"No I don't have a woman yet, so stop asking." He seemed a little pale at me mentioning that name so I began to think. Until I reached a hilarious and obvious conclusion that I should have seen from the beginning.

"Say, Mario, you said you had kids right? How many?"

"I have 12," he stated almost proudly.

"Holy shit… 12… that's some feat. And how many times have you… did the deed unprotected? You know… like… pulling out?" I said, ensuring to make the motion for his understanding?

"Let's see here…" He began counting on his fingers, "about 7 or 8 times."

"Uh-huh. And you have 12 babies?"

"Yep."

"No twins?"

"Yep."

"And you saw each of them coming out?"

"Yep."

"All… twelve of them?"

"Yep… or… wait a second…" So he began counting on his fingers again, a pitiful sight to see a man's pride stolen from him, but it had to be done. He had to know.

"Mario?" He looked at me, so worried I thought he would burst out into tears, "Do _you_ know where babies come from?"

"Oh no! But I only let her see the chief and…." He looked to his left to find Luigi suddenly interested in looking for the keys again.

"I'll tell you what… I'll look for the keys, and you look for your brother's kidney.

"With pleasure!"

* * *

"And that's how we got here!" I said cheerfully while Melanie and I were surrounded by 20 guards aiming their lances at us. The chief was standing behind them all, as pissed off as ever.

"So what made you compelled to come see me, boy."

"Well, I wanted to apologize for my rude behavior. And I would like to rekindle our friendship with a challenge of your choice!"

"You don't honestly believe that tauros shit do you?"

 _"_ _I thought you said they don't know cuss words?"_

 _"_ _I didn't hear a cuss word…"_ Well, just more random things to find out. Ain't this world confusing?"

"Well to be honest, I don't think letting you fuck my dead mother would be enough to make us friends… But I still need to get to the tower."

He scratched his chin in deep thought before an evil smirk came across his face.

 _"_ _I not gonna like this…"_

 _"_ _Neither am I…"_

"Alright then. I'll allow you to compete in combat against one of my chimera. If you win, then I'll grant you access. If you lose, then you'll remain a prisoner. Sound good?"

"So basically you're asking me how I want to die?" He nodded. "Then I accept. Send whatever puny pokemon you have and I'll beat it…"

"Michael…"

"Matter of fact, send out your strongest fighter and we'll fight to the death!"

"Michael…"

"Nothing will stop Michael Blake from victory!"

"MICHAEL!"

"What!?" I shouted, turning around. I realized I had made a grave mistake. For in front of me, was a 7 foot, almost 500 pound, collection of light blue-gray muscle with four arms and a reptilian face. A machamp breathing a horrid stench heavily into my face. I don't know what it was that compelled me to do so, but I found my eyes falling down its body to a certain figure between its legs that would shatter every man's pride.

I made the sign of the father, son, and the holy ghost and shed a tear.

"What was that," Melanie asked me.

"…I was praying," I squealed out.

"Praying for what?"

"…My asshole…"

A metal bird screeched in the air, eager to pick up the scraps of what was to come.

God help me.

* * *

 **a/n**

 **So most of the chapter was dialogue, but I hope I made it interesting enough. This chapter was a bit of comedy and a bit of drama as you can see. As for the Mario bros appearing, it was just a little gag I threw in there for shits and giggles. They have no role in this universe yet.**

 **Yes, almost everyone hates pokemon in this world to the extent as you see above. Shocking right? It sure as hell was to me when the idea came to me, but not everything can be all sunshine and rainbows for Michael. Well, sunshine no, but he might see a few rainbows with that Machamp next chapter (just kidding).**

 **Keep following and reviewing!**

 **Chapter 6 Sootopolis Pt. 2**


	6. Sootopolis Pt 2

**Oh hey there everyone. God it's really been about a month now hasn't it? Sure doesn't feel that way, I guess time really does fly doesn't it?**

 **Anyway, I'm back with the next chapter which contains pretty much my first battle scene. I don't want to get too much in detail in what happens, but I'll just say that this officially marks the end of the first arc, part, or whatever you want to call it.**

 **So without further ado, I present to you: Chapter 6!**

 **a/n: I do not own pokemon or any songs used in this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Sootopolis Pt 2

 **(God Mode** by **Sons of Amon)**

I've been scared a great number of times, and this was definitely one of them. With this aura bullshit, I could definitely sweep the floor with a machop, and maybe have a challenge with a machoke. But a machamp was a gamble in which the odds would never be in my favor.

"Melanie, get away," I ordered. I could tell she began looking around, wondering where to go, and I noticed several heads in my peripheral vision shaking left and right.

 **(0:13)**

Glancing down at the ground, I swept my foot slightly to the side and watched as dust was easily kicked up and blown away with the wind.

 _"_ _Melanie, read my mind."_

 **(0:19)**

 _"_ _I'm not exactly sure what… Alright. It might work."_ It was an overused technique, but if Riolu could pull it off, then I'm sure I could. The only question was: what would they see of me then?

A grin came across my face and, quick as a flash, I crouched down, grabbed as much dirt as I could and threw it into the machamp's eyes.

 **(0:29)**

He roared a mighty machamp roar and with one pair of his arms he tried scrubbing the minerals out to regain vision; and with the other, he began swinging around aimlessly, threatening to hit the guards if he was any less careless.

I used this opportunity to quickly charge an aura sphere in my hand and shoot it at the ground surrounding Melanie and I. I began firing away in rapid succession, kicking up more dust and screening our movements.

 _"_ _Now!"_ I transmitted when I deemed the screen to be thick enough. Granted I couldn't see anything, but I just had the feeling that she had morphed into her draconic form, turned invisible, and fled up into the sky; staying out of harm's way and waiting for further guidance from me.

Speaking of lack of visibility, these damned dust particles wouldn't let me see a damn thing. All I had to guide my movements were machamp's roars. I smacked my head, 'think, damnit think!' I thought. There was only one option, but I didn't know if I had enough time or energy to make it a reality.

Another roar penetrated my eardrums, dazing me in the process and that impending sense of danger quickly arrived, granting me the opportunity to dodge-roll away from my current position. I felt the ground shake as he brought two of his fists down right on where I was standing.

I cursed myself for getting into this situation. Everything was still to blurry for me to make an accurate prediction on where to strike.

 _"_ _You think you could help me Melanie?!"_

 _"_ _I'm a little busy at the moment!"_ I looked up briefly to find her fighting a trio of armored birds.

Great. Just another obstacle. But I couldn't afford to help her out just yet.

"God," I grunted before rolling away from another strike, "If you could just let me see," another roll, "with my vision again," another one, "That would really," and another one, "be," and another one, "GREAT!" I began to pant, exhausted from all of this evasion. It remained pointless for me to avoid getting hit if I was just going to become tired in the process.

I sensed another impact coming and accordingly made a jump to my right. However, I was caught off guard when I felt a large hand grabbing me by my shirt and lifting me up off of the ground. By now, the dust had started to clear up, leaving a sea of particles wavering about a meter up from the ground. I was moving in the air, turning around, and was stopped when I came face to face with the ogre I was forced to fight. His breath was putrid, and snot dripped from his booger-stuffed nose like a leaky faucet. I took the opportunity to get a good look at his eyes, which had brown irises. They were reptilian, but I detected something else inside of them. Maybe it was just my imagination, but his irises seemed to have small, almost thin-invisible strands of light, almost like lightning, flowing through him.

I didn't know what it was. Could it be that maybe this was a result of experimentation like me? Whatever it was, I had to guess that it was the reason for him to easily find me in the cloud of sand I put up.

 **(Pause at 1:24)**

 _'_ _Look at the stars. Do you see them dancing…? Well of course you don't, you're not looking hard enough… You're doubting the fact. I see them dancing because I simply know that they are… No, don't believe blindly… I'm saying that, in very simple terms, sometimes if you want to see something very badly, maybe you just have to believe it's right there in front of you. I know it doesn't make sense. But I'll find the secret one day, just you watch… Hm? Michael…?'_

I felt like I was having a very bad trip. I couldn't recall who's voice that was, but it sounded too familiar. Was it a telepathic message from someone else? Or was it something else entirely? Either way, it gave me a door to open; it gave me something to try.

So I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I… I want to see everything…

"I _can_ see everything." And just like that, colors, lines, and shapes formed in the blackness that was my eyelids. People, vegetation, pokemon, and inanimate objects became clear to me like looking into NODs during a clear night.

In front of me was a blue figure with four arms. Its aura. Strange thing was, most of it seemed to be concentrated in his eyes. I'm not gonna lie, knowing that he used some sort of aura vision before I did kinda pissed me off. Oh well.

 **(Play at 1:25)**

I smiled before bringing up a hand with a charged aura sphere and letting it loose into his face. He threw me to the side, to which I rolled and landed in a three-point stance, and once again started rubbing his face – despite the fact that the aura was practically gone by now. I mimicked my earlier strategy and let loose a barrage of aura spheres into the ground, making things cloudy. I opened my eyes to see if the dust had kicked up properly enough, and to my surprise, I saw everything normally again.

However, the aura vision had mixed in with the imagery of the plain scene, causing mass confusion to my eyes and giving me a headache. While the machamp was carefully looking around for me, I tried to silently figure out the reason for this.

 _"_ _Focus your aura sight all into one eye. Trust me,"_ I heard Melanie say to me. I closed my eyes again, still seeing the enhanced vision, and tried pushing the energy I felt in my head into my right eye. There was a little bit of pressure, but it ended quickly. When I opened my eyes again, still wary of machamp, I looked through the same dual-vision as before. Only difference was that taking in this visual information didn't cause my head to spin. I shut my left eye and noticed I was now looking through just my enhanced vision. Shutting my right eye, I found myself looking through normal sight.

Looks like I'll be owing her one later.

 _"_ _Oh you owe me a whole lot more than one."_

Damned dragon…

 _"_ _Stop thinking and start fighting!"_

 **(1:47)**

Machamp had already recovered and crossed all four of his arms across his chest. I took note on how his aura had shifted up to his head.

Maybe he was focusing his power? It could have been a move I know, but I wouldn't give him the opportunity to use it. I manifested to aura spheres in each hand and ran towards the beast. About a few meters away, I saw his aura shift in a strange way, so I braced myself for a maneuver. A couple less meters away, he quickly turned to me. I released the orbs into his chest and rolled to the side, forming two more.

They were too fast for him and he was too late in bringing up his arm to defend himself. He yelled and turned to me before he brought up his two back arms. I took his moment of vulnerability and dived between his legs, on my back, and fired two more at his back.

Shortly after, I noticed another shift in his aura, it now turned a slight tinge of red, and coursed throughout his entire body. He roared in some strange achievement of power and jumped high into the air before coming back down, punching all four fists into the ground making it shake. I stumbled slightly, but gained my footing.

However, I was all but too late as he lunged toward me striking my gut with one powerful punch. Actually, powerful was an understatement; I was not only winded, but also launched about 10 yards backwards, almost into the group of guards surrounding the two of us. I took a look at their lances and had a good idea. I launched an orb at one of them and stole his lance. I made a glance at the chief, who waved off another guard that probably asked if they could apprehend me again.

Turning my attention back to the battle, I sprinted to the machamp, who seemed more than ready for me. While one hand held the lance, the other formed an aura sphere. When I reached an appropriate distance from the machamp, I pushed my aura into one of my legs, forcing myself to absorb its energy. Using this energy, I pushed that leg into the ground as hard as I could, and leaped into the air above him.

With the lance, I swung it around, whacking him in the back of the head. When I landed, facing towards the monster, I ran up to him and stabbed his left calf. He grunted, but with the other, he swung around and tried a reverse roundhouse kick. I focused my aura into my arms and blocked the strike, only causing me to slide back a few meters.

Then he ripped the lance out from his calf, took aim and launched it at me as quick as lightning. A second was all I had to react, but I made it count.

 **(2:09)**

Time moved in slow motion as I pivoted back to my left, watching the speared tip graze my cheek, narrowly miss my nose, and pass by where it stabbed an unprepared guard.

As I turned back, I put my hand to my cheek, feeling the slight sting and dripping blood he induced. I pulled my hand in front of me to take a look at the substance smeared on my fingers, smiling at the fact I had a challenge in front of me.

As I let my aura flow to my cheek, healing the scar, I looked back to Machamp, whose eyes were bloodshot, mouth dripping with saliva, and nose sniffling trying to breathe around the dried mucus.

"You seem tired," I taunted, "You want to give up now?"

He roared again and jumped towards me, raising a fist to strike me once he hit the ground. Refusing to let that happen, I made another aura leap to meet him in the air where I shot two aura spheres at his legs, causing him lean forward and land on his head, which with his weight should half at least broken his neck.

However, as I landed and watched him get back up, I remembered that nothing ever goes my way.

Oh Michael; you silly goose.

Regardless, I focused my aura into my fists and proceeded to punch his back before leap-frogging over him. As he looked up, I uppercutted him and sent a hook to his throat as his head followed. He used one arm to catch himself and used another to attempt to swat me away with immense force. Using quick thinking, I made an aura leap over his arm and landed between the two of his right arms where I sent two strikes in the space between them before leaping away.

After doing so, I infused aura into my entire right arm and gave a powerful punch to his throat, making him fall backwards with a groan. I panted heavily as I watched his body hit the ground with a thump. Walking up to him, I had two aura spheres at the ready in case he recovered. But I was not expecting him to spin on the ground, using his back shoulders as a pivot-point, sweeping my legs and causing me to fall.

 **(2:43)**

I submitted a backwards roll, returning to my standing, yet exhausted posture. But I wouldn't let simple fatigue get the better of me; I was trained to supersede with these conditions. I released the orbs behind me, using the energy to get a quick boost in running towards this blue hulk. He cocked his left-forward arm back and swung at me where I slid under the attack and fired an orb to his side.

The beast countered with a counterclockwise back-hand to my chest. The sheer power of it pushed me back several feet, but my quick aura-infusion to my chest took the blunt of the attack. I put both of my hands together, created a larger aura sphere with the mixed power, and fired away at the head of Machamp. As I did this, the tiny bit of red in his aura became larger, as if each strike was awakening something inside of him.

Machamp bellowed in pain, clutching his head with two hands while beating the ground with the other two. He looked up to me and gave a short bark before running at me with full speed with an arm cocked back. I prepared for a defense by positioning my feet to make a quick side-leap and focusing on the joints I'd attack once I rolled out of the way. But as fate had planned it, I was too late and concentrated on offensive that I didn't get positioned in time and the monster sucker-punched my chest, which was guarded once again by a last-second wall of aura.

I coughed and shook off the pain before making a small aura leap to gain access to the back of his neck by sitting upon his shoulders. In rapid succession, I threw aura-punch after aura-punch to his neck and head as he attempted to grab me and shake me loose; whichever came first. But I was adamant. I hung on tightly, crouching low to avoid his arms.

But as a new technique came to my head, his shaking became worse, and I found myself becoming loose. I only had one shot at this, so I placed my palm on the back of his head, and let as much of my aura imbue into my lower arm as I could. I could feel so power surging through my hand at the time that it actually took more out of me to keep it in than to manifest it. When I reached my breaking point, I discharged all of it in an eruptive but focused blast of light that not only knocked him forward as I blasted back, but also broke my arm from the unstable recoil.

 **(End of song)**

"FUCK!" I yelled in agony. I watched as Machamp slowly, but surely, get back up to his feet and turn to look at me with rage-filled eyes that only showed blind fury. Coming to the conclusion that forcing my aura to flow into my arm would take a lot more energy and concentration, especially after that last stunt, I manifested an aura sphere on my palm and held it over the fracture before getting up.

I ran around a little bit, avoiding machamp's strikes like a fly to a swatting hand, and let my aura do its work in repairing the broken bone and bruised muscle. While doing so, machamp's aura shifted again, the red tinge now making itself more prominent, turning his aura into a shade of bluish-violet.

My running slowed, and I became winded. The aura sphere had begun to shrink and I cursed myself for my pitiful endurance. I felt that danger-sense again, but looked back too late. Machamp dropped low and did a sweep on my legs, causing me to fall on the ground with a grunt.

"Fuck!" I groaned. Machamp gave a mighty roar into the air and bent over to grab my legs with one of his hands. Now if you've seen the Avengers, I'm pretty sure you could imagine what had happened next.

"Fuuuuuccck!" I groaned again. Still able to breathe… and live… both barely. Seeing him wind back his arm, I sacrificed my aura-vision to spread my aura throughout my body, creating a sort of buffer for what was to come.

I couldn't believe my eyes at first, or the pain, but his arms were moving way too fast for me to even see as he hit me again and again. If it weren't for the aura-shield, he would've probably broken some ribs or shattered my sternum. I just didn't know how much longer I could hold out.

He was beating me in shear strength. I had talent for close-quarters combat and accumulated skill over 15 years of it, but this monster was just too strong for me. I would wear myself out from dodging his attacks rather than going on the offensive… I _did_ wear myself out.

And out of nowhere, something in me snapped. Not physically, but… mentally. In a flash, I reached my arm up and gripped one of his fists, holding it in place. Because of his speed, he threw in a few extra punches before realizing one of his hands wasn't moving.

My aura vision came back to me in full blast with no regular sight mixed in. But instead of that calm blue color that shaded almost everything that wasn't organic, everything was now a light crimson. Everything. Organisms and inanimate objects alike. There was definition so I could at least see shapes and not just one big mess of smoky red.

Machamp turned his head and wound his arm opposite to the one I had grabbed for a good punch. However, I caught this one as well.

That familiar boiling of past memories came surging through my body, nearly causing me to panic if I didn't control my breathing.

But I was still in a fight for my life. As soon as Machamp prepared himself to strike with his two remaining fists, I brought my feet up and kicked as hard as I could into his stomach. It didn't do much except for push him back enough for me to get to my feet safely. Machamp shook his head as if he was receiving a slight headache.

I was still looking through whatever red lens took over my vision, and I felt something inside of me wanting to get out. It felt like it was craving for something like a starved savage, willing to do anything to get what it wanted.

And as strange as it sounded, I felt like I was craving that same thing. Like getting whatever it was that it wanted would bring me satisfaction and pleasure.

But as I thought about what it could be, Machamp was running at me yet again. I forgot about whatever this red vision was and charged two aura spheres to launch at him.

I had only realized after I had fired them, but they seemed a little bigger than usual, and Machamp wasn't just hit with them, he was blown back by them. I used this time to run to another soldier and grab another lance, to which most, if not all, of them in the vicinity were all too eager to drop them on the ground.

I carefully walked over to the Machamp rising slowly, ensuring that I wasn't being too hasty in my movements. When he finally stood up and looked at me, panting heavily, he gave a large roar that did little to intimidate me.

"Look," I began, "This can end one of two ways. Option A: you can just give up, and I can win with both of us walking away mostly unscathed." He seemed to snarl at this option. "Or Option B: I can end this battle by killing you."

I figured he unwisely favored the latter option by the way he roared and charged at me with all four arms forward ready to strangle me.

 _'_ _Just imagine…'_

I closed my eyes…

'… _holding a sword…_

…dropped the lance…

 _'…_ _sharp enough to cut through anything'_

…and waited for my strike.

 _'_ _Trust in my spirit.'_

My eyes snapped wide open as Machamps arms were inches from my neck. I tucked and rolled to my left, his right, following up with a swipe of my hand to my right as if I was swinging a sword at his legs.

A loud cry shook the area around us, but I remained unfazed. I passively looked at the red aura-sword currently residing in my right hand, unsatisfied with just slicing a leg off.

I wanted more.

I turned around to see him thrashing about in pain, attempting to hold his non-existent leg. Nonchalantly, I stepped toward him in a constant, slow pace like time was my friend. The heap of muscle looked at me, and for the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. He rolled over and began crawling away pathetically like a coward afraid to face his own judgement.

I threw an aura sphere into his right shoulder(s), enough to dislocate both of his upper arms from their sockets. He yelled in even more pain, but instead of trying to run, he began crying. I couldn't exactly tell that he was, but he gave all the similar small convulsions and staggered breathing.

I began chuckling; I found it hilarious how I reduced a menacing monster to a weeping sap by making him my bitch. But what kind of person would I be if I didn't end his suffering. When I walked in front of him, a wispy substance, which I took as blood, pooled around staining the bottoms of my boots. I gave a disgusted sigh and raised my sword high, aiming toward his neck.

"I warned you…" But before I could strike down, a gust of wind flew behind me and a sharp pain was felt in my upper back. I dropped the sword, which landed safely just to the right of the machamp's neck. My back was automatically arched, wanting the pain to stop, and I turned around, dropping to my knees, and eventually, my side.

I looked up to the crowd of guards, looking for the one that injured me, taking me away from my prey, but there was no difference in the flow of their aura, which was starting to dissipate and return to normal sight by now. When I stared at them, waiting for an answer, they all simultaneously pointed behind me.

Slow from the wound, I turned around to catch the culprit. I expected to see another pokemon, maybe one of those birds, skarmory I think, that were fighting Melanie.

What I didn't expect was to see Melanie in her draconic form, claws glowing an orange-white with some sort of hot energy. Blood, not hers, stained her gold and white feathers, and that triangular pattern on her chest was glowing with that same energy.

"Melanie?" I half-grunted in disbelief. I looked into her eyes. They held firm intimidation as well as honesty in her actions. But they also held another thing, just a little tinge of fear, almost like how Machamp's eyes looked.

Wait a minute… speaking of which, how did I see fear in his eyes while looking through aura? I'll just ask Melanie after she explains herself.

"Melanie, what the fuck was that?!" I asked, holding an aura sphere to my back to heal the injury.

 _"…_ _me now?"_ She asked, broken like a poor radio transmission.

"What did you say? I can't hear you clearly."

 _"_ _Can you… me now?"_

"Can I _hear_ you now?" I asked for clarification. She nodded.

 _"_ _Tell… Michael, what… that?! You keep… crazy every now and then and… kill someone!"_ Umm… what?

 _"_ _You're still coming in broken… but I can hear some parts. And I don't know what you're talking about with 'going crazy,' I have complete control over myself,"_ I told her, my anger building up slowly, but contained. She transformed into her human form and walked over to me.

"Michael… what do you remember from the fight? Tell me exactly what you remember," she told me sternly and shakily.

"Didn't you see the fight? I beat him up. The only weird thing was my vision turning red," I spoke through gritted teeth.

"Michael, tell me how the fight went; tell me what you remember," she spoke loudly, shaking me in the process.

"I remember kicking each other's asses, and I cut off his leg and dislocated his arms! Alright?! Maybe a little overboard, but not crazy! I was about to die! What would you think I'd do if someone almost killed me?! Just let them go? That shit ain't me! So if you don't mind, I'm going to finish what I…" I stopped as I turned around, at the same time wishing I didn't.

When I left my sight of Machamp, he was on his stomach, bleeding from his amputated leg and in pain from a dislocated shoulder. But looking at him… looking at _it_ now, what lay in front of me was barely recognizable.

For starters, it wasn't just one leg. Both legs were gone, lying next to his body about a few feet away, both separated. Next, though minor, he was lying on his back, giving me a good view of what damage I… what damage was done to him. Next, all four arms were dislocated, and two were ripped off. Not sliced, _ripped._ The muscle tendons hung out like broken and frayed wires. Blood pooled around him like rain water, seeping into the ground as time passed. His faced was disfigured; it was smashed in completely and unrecognizable. The eyes hung out of what looked like their sockets and his tongue, which was also hanging out, was cut up from presumably his teeth. The sails on his head were broken and smashed into his skull. Wounds and cuts marked his chest like graffiti on an underpass wall. A long split in his skin ran down the middle of his chest and a thick trail of blood led from there to a heart lying on the ground. His neck was nearly chopped in half, probably from the work of several strikes.

But the thing that did it for me – the thing that made me cringe, shudder, and nearly throw up in incredulous suspicion that I was crazy – was a small puddle of fluids and flesh gathering around his groin, and the fact that his dick was there, but not his testicles. When I put two and two together, I yelped in understanding and my hands immediately moved to my crotch, somehow feeling every ounce of pain that this poor monster went through.

"I… I did this? No… no-no-no I didn't… I couldn't… This wasn't me…"

A single pair of hands clapped behind me, to which I turned around too quick for my own good. It was the chief, a wide smile spread on his face. I was too confused and scared to know what was going on that I looked to Melanie for guidance. She looked at him with a glare that could stop a terrorist from my world cold in his tracks.

"Well done there Michael! Splendid work! Your words of becoming one of those Aura guardians were true after all."

Melanie looked away from him and turned to me. I couldn't see my own face, but I could tell she could see the eyes of a kid who lost his parents. I could feel thee pity and sorrow she felt for me.

With a nasal sigh, she got down and helped me to get back up.

"However," I snapped my head back to him after he said that word, "I cannot exactly just stand idle when you murder several of my guards in the process." I widened my eyes and looked around me. He was right, there were several guards, human and pokemon, that were on the ground, hemorrhaging profoundly with the human guards receiving medical attention.

"I… did _all_ of this?" I muttered to myself.

I don't like killing. I hate it. I have for my entire life… well most of it. There was a time in my life that all I wanted to do was kill the people responsible for my father's death. I wanted them to suffer. That was until I actually did it.

There are things that people can recover from. Tobacco, alcohol, minor crime, drugs; people can recover from them. But death is a path that one can never recover from. Once you take a life, you've already corrupted yourself. You can't recover from it. No matter how much therapy, service, or praying you do, you can't forget killing someone. That's why people call it "taking a life." Because you take that memory with you for eternity. It stays with you like a scar. It's writing that can never be erased. And the more lives you take, the more weight goes on your soul. And those that love to kill…

I promised myself that I would never take a life without reason. It's no justification, but I told myself that I would only kill as a last resort. And here I am. Staring at people I killed for no reason. People that were killed when I had no memory of doing so. Even looking back at those I killed shortly before my arrival in this world made me nauseous.

"Now you did defeat that chimera," the chief said, "so I will grant you and your chimera freedom. But for the deaths of my guards, I will not grant you access to the tower."

It just kept getting worse. I committed murder, lost a bit of Melanie's trust, and now I have no way of getting back home.

"But, I am willing to give you a way to redeem yourself," he said. I looked back up to him, wondering what he was thinking. I could feel Melanie's emotions beginning to go uncontrollable.

"You see, there is a new sport sweeping the region, sweeping over the world in fact. It hasn't an official name, but people know it simply as 'battling.'"

Wait… could he be talking about…

"Essentially, it is simply pitting two chimeras together in a fight to the death. I've seen a few in my time and they are truly remarkable. Watching the power of a chimera being safely displayed for humans to watch. No harm to us, and an entertainment that is never satisfied."

So battling does exist. But why do I get the feeling that it isn't as appeasing as I remember it to be?

"Now, there are four towns that support and practice in this sport, including us. If you want to gain access to the tower, then you must defeat the other three towns in this sport, then defeat us. But keep in mind, the chimera you defeated today, was not our strongest. I suggest you prepare yourself accordingly for our next encounter."

I looked to Melanie. A tear was streaking down her cheek, and I felt sadness coming from her. I pulled her body toward me and hugged her. Her sadness was replaced by surprise and confusion.

"Hey," I whispered, "It's alright. I won't do it if you don't want to." When I pulled back, still holding her shoulders, her mouth was slightly opened and her eyes were trying to read my face. She then chuckled and shook her head.

"It's alright, Michael. You need to get home, so I won't take that opportunity away from you. I won't let you take that away from yourself."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. A second ago, she was saddened by the fact of battling. But now…

"Are you sure? I mean, there has to be another-"

"We'll do it," She interrupted, directing her voice to the chief.

"HE HAS A VOICCE OF HIS OWN YOU FILTHY CHIMERA!" he yelled at her. I looked to him with eyes full of rage. How dare he talk to her like she's scum of the earth.

"…Alright," I mumbled, shaking from my fury, "I'll do it. And when I return, I'll make you pay for calling her that."

"Well, then it's a deal. You are dismissed. There is no time limit, so take all the time you need. And since this is open contract, you may choose, if you are afraid, to quit at any time. Just know that when you arrive, you had better be prepared for a fight."

"I am not afraid of you." I stood up, "I will return. Come on Melanie, let's go."

"Oh and Guardian," he said as I turned my back to begin walking away. I turned my head to the side, refusing to look at him, but willing to listen. "Keep in mind that you won't be the one to fight. It will be a chimera that you throw into the battle," he then smirked widely, "Believe me: you don't want the whole world to know of your power."

I huffed at his cryptic warning and walked away from the area with Melanie at my side. We walked until we reached the lake, where Melanie then transformed and crouched low to allow me to climb on her back. The entire village watched us with an evil eye, and I felt like I was exiled once again.

But I would be back. I would be back; and when I return…

"I will make you all kneel before me," I heard myself say. With that, I climbed aboard Air Melanie and gave them a single middle finger salute as she took off – leaving this evil village for a silent ride all the way back to Mossdeep with the sun setting to our right.

* * *

When we landed in the same forest we left in, I hopped off of Melanie with both of our packs on my back. I dropped our items and stretched, cracking my back in a pleasant matter while doing so. As I took her bag out of mine, I heard her changing form again.

Turning around to see her, she wore a slim white t-shirt with slim fit jeans and comfortable sneakers. I held up her bag to hand it to her as she walked toward me, but even my sense of danger couldn't foretell the powerful slap she presented to my left cheek.

I spent a while staring at the ground with my face stinging from her palm, wondering what was wrong. I heard her vigorous breathing through her nose, telling me she was pissed – if I couldn't tell that before.

"What the hell was that, Michael?!" she yelled. My mouth opened, but I couldn't respond. There was so much. "You're damn right there was so much! What the hell were you thinking?! First, you disrespect a village leader that held power over the entire _region!_ Then, we both end up in jail! You break out, creating a fight between two guards in the process, you pick a fight with the chief _again,_ force him to have a Machamp to almost _kill_ you, and for a grand finale, you go crazy and kill SIX of their _human_ guards! How do you explain yourself?!"

"I-I don't know…" I was a loss of words. Every one that she spoke was right on the money.

"I mean; do you know how much trouble that is?! You could have _died!_ You could have created an even bigger gap between us and you humans! What would happen if we had to leave Chance and Riolu all by themselves?! They're already orphaned! Do you know how much pain and despair they would be in if we left them because of _your_ stupid choice to pick a fight?! Do you know how much I worry about them?! Do you know how much I worry about you?!"

It was then when I looked at her. "Worry about me?"

"YES! You make stupid decisions and every now and then, you go berserk and nearly kill everyone in sight! And what's worse, I can't even communicate with you when you do! It's like you refuse to listen me! Or worse, the fact that you can't listen to me when you do!"

She was still right. Nearly every time that I have, I wasn't able to hear her. She had to stop me physically in order for me to return back to normal. But… Every time, it still feels like I'm in control.

"I'm… I'm sorry. Okay, I'm very sorry. I don't know this world a lot and the way things work in it. I keep fuc- I keep messing up and everyone around me pays for it. But you know what, I'm used, to it. I don't blame you for getting angry with me. I'm always messing up and bringing people down with me…"

She sighed heavily, expressing her anger in a grunt. "Look, the ship leaves tomorrow for Lilycove. If we're going to get there on time and make the city this time tomorrow, we're going to have to get some sleep now. We'll find out how we'll prepare for Fortree while we're on the boat." I furrowed brow.

"Fortree?" I asked? She grabbed her bag that I dropped and started walking away with me following at her side with mine.

"Yes, that's one of the villages that he said participated in this awful sport."

"Wait, you said we. So does that mean…"

"Well yes I'm coming with you. I don't want you burning down the Hoenn rainforest because you tried to get a shuckle to join you in this endeavor by yourself."

I began smiling, "So you're coming with me!"

" _We_ are coming with you, as in Chance and Riolu as well since they wanted to follow us. But let me get one thing straight: we will _not_ participate in these blasphemous fights. You'll have to get another one that'll want to join you. And if you mistreat them, you'll be wishing it was that machamp murdering you."

"Woohoo! You guys are coming with me!"

"Uggh, in one ear and out the other," she exasperated. We spent a minute walking before a thought came to mind.

"But I do have a question."

"What is it?"

"Back in my world, or in the game at least, there was a similar sort of mechanic that required the main character to fight these 'gym leaders.' I think I remember correctly, one of those gyms were in Fortree."

"Okay? Does this have to do with anything?"

"Well, these gym leaders loved to concentrate all their effort onto one specific type. Some specialized in water pokemon while others specialized in fire types."

"Oh, the type system again. You mentioned that before didn't you?" I had forgotten that they don't run by that system of classification here. Pokemon just have abilities that work well against some and weak against others by way of natural law.

"Yeah, but I forgot that this world doesn't have that type of classification. Just wondering if you knew what type, or at least what kind, of pokemon they like to use."

"I do visit around the region every so often, but I don't stay often enough to learn how they poorly treat my kind. And even if I did try to learn, like the chief said: it's a relatively new concept. I wouldn't know if it happened within the last ten years."

"You haven't traveled around in the last ten years? I thought you went out like every month to get supplies for the island?"

"Yes, but that's just it. I go and get my supplies and then I return. If you haven't noticed yet, even in a disguise, people aren't very fond of creatures like us." Her gaze had fallen to the ground from her forward stare.

"I'm sensing a bigger reason pertaining to you," I inquired. She shook her head.

"It's nothing. Just worry about finding a strong partner to fight your war," she said harshly.

"Hey," I snapped, grabbing her wrist, "It may have been a popular idea where I came from, but this is different. I didn't ask for this. I mean; sure if I hadn't have met you, I would probably be balls deep in this sport without a second thought." I stared deeply into her eyes, forcing my purpose and determination on her soul like she had done to mine before. "I'll respect that you don't want to fight for me. It's whatever. And besides," I said while looking up at the starry night, "He said this contract or whatever lasted as long as it takes. So I'm going to take advantage of that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I won't just dominate the first pokemon I see and force him to compete. I'll take as long as I have to if I need to befriend one that can trust me and help me out. I'm. sure I could find one before we hit Fortree" She scoffed before she began walking away again.

"You think it'll be easy? That making friends with us is just natural? It's _not,_ Michael. We hate your kind as much as your kind hates ours." I put a dip in as she spoke. Then I tossed the can up and caught it with the flick of my wrist, with the resonating wound of tin and cork hitting my palm making itself prominent.

"Well I guess I'll just be the difference in this. Shouldn't be too hard; I always am anyways."

"And what is it with your cryptic messages?"

"You have your secrets, and I have mine. Oh look, there's the city."

The buildings and lights were all there. I picked out the inn that Riolu and Chance were in right now as well as the swap meet from my vantage point. And behind that was the festival that Nadira talked about yesterday."

"Hey Melanie-"

"No. I'm going to bed and you should too," she said tiredly.

Eventually we made it back to the inn. The streets were pretty crowded from the festival with men outfitted in everyday wear while the women and most children wore kimonos and yukatas. Music was played giving the entire city a festive atmosphere.

At the door, I told Melanie that I needed some air and time to think things over about this journey; about myself. She curtly nodded and went inside without a single word. I waited a couple minutes at the door, and eventually, I felt the happiness of Chance and the relief of Melanie wash over my emotions. I smiled, picturing in my head what their small reunion would look like.

And when I felt a bit of sadness enter my mind from Chance, I decided to walk away and into the festival, a new dip in my mouth.

The entire ordeal was actually quite fun and pleasurable, in a serene way mind you. Small booths lined up along the streets, offering games, prizes, and delectable foods to those that visited them. As I walked down the boulevard, groups of small kids, friends, came up to me and offered me items or asked if I wanted to play. As much as I wanted to, which wasn't at all, I declined their offers with respect and urged them along to enjoy themselves.

All the while, young women also approached me. Some asked me to accompany them, some asked for my number, some shyly gave me love letters, and some just wanted to seduce me for money. The latter I scared into giving me their money in a dark alley. It was actually quite funny, being the bad guy for a small bit of time.

Yet, even with the money, which I used to buy a feast at a popular restaurant because I hadn't eaten anything today, this overwhelming sense of loss and confusion continued to storm through my mind. I thought back to my battle with that machamp. I honestly had no clue as to how I mauled him along with those other guards.

"Here's your steak, medium; burger, medium-well; clawitzer tail with butter; baked lumineon; mashed potatoes; baked potatoes; fries; and corn. Enjoy sweety," the curvy waitress said with a wink as her coworkers placed the food on my outdoors table. In the meantime, I was twirling my butter knife in my hand, weaving it through my fingers with nimble speed. I nodded and mouthed thank you once he last plate was done; I had barely even noticed that she placed a single piece of paper just at the base of my wine glass. Probably her number or something.

I started to wonder what else this 'aura' had done for me? What it had done _to_ me. Had it made me more attractive? I couldn't really come up with an answer for that, so I began cutting into my steak ever so slowly and carefully, like it was the last one I'd ever eat. One thing's for sure though: Ever since I came here, no matter what mood I'm in, I've sure been a hell of a lot more approachable than back on my world.

"Michael?" I heard a feminine voice say. I lazily turned my head to my right to see Nadira walking towards me, wearing a rather revealing dress that wasn't exactly a kimono or yukata, yet looked similar in a way. I didn't know or care. It was a different world. Hell, two men fucking would probably be normal here and I still wouldn't care. I stopped expecting 'normal' once I realized that this was a world of goddamned pokemon.

"Oh hey Nadira. You're looking awfully festive tonight."

"Well it is a festival," she giggled. "Do you like it?"

"Well to be honest you look like a slut. Not a bad slut, but your puppies could use a sweater," I bluntly stated while taking a rather large gulp of the wine. I exhaled as I let the odd aftertaste of this foreign wine burn the back of my throat.

She gave a faux huff while putting a hand over her heart. "Hurtful," she jokingly expressed. I chuckled, going along with it like always.

"Hey bitch that's my line… oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Bitch? What does that mean?" Oh yes. The alarm bells are heard across the temple that is my mind. Well… not so much a temple. More like a basement.

"Are you kidding me? You don't know what that means? The fucking chief said it like it was a common word; yet when I ask you, you don't have a damn clue what I'm talking about?" I shook my head, chuckling at the oddity that is this world before taking another large gulp of wine.

"Wait a second. What do you mean chief?" I scoffed as I reached into my pocket for a pack of cigarettes I had bought earlier walking down the boulevard. When I dug in my pockets for something else, I recalled with a groan my mistake.

"Fuck, I forgot to buy a lighter. Do you happen to have one by any chance?" I asked her. She shook her head and I sighed. There was a large bonfire at one end of the restaurant, but I was honestly just too fucking lazy to walk over there to light this damned thing.

So I took out one and put the butt in my mouth – stop laughing you crazy kids. With a snap of my fingers, a small, blue flame ignited on my thumb, successfully lighting the cigarette. I felt her surprise without even looking in her direction.

"Well would you look at that. I can make fire. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo." I took my first drag, and God did I miss the feeling it gave me back when I had done it regularly. I thought about purchasing a pack yesterday at Miguel's, but the inner confines in my head in which held my conscience prisoner whispered to me to not relapse. 'Dip was enough,' I had thought. And God was I wrong yet again.

"You-you just… you're one of-"

"Look Nadira, do me a favor and just don't mention this to anyone. I hate being the center of attention, whether it's good or bad." After a brief silence, I brought the end to my lips again and inhaled, taking in as much as this local brand could offer me. When I took it out to breathe in more air, so much had gone and inflated my lungs that I coughed out puffs of thin smoke; I had to rebuild my addiction to actually enjoy the full feeling.

"Umm, okay. But as I was saying: what did you mean by chief?"

"The fucking chief of Sootopolis! I went there today, alright? God do I hate that guy," I grumbled, taking another gulp of wine as the waitress brought an entire bottle to my table. I took note on the spiteful look in her eyes when she saw Nadira in her attire. But the latter didn't care. In fact, she seemed more interested in what I said.

"Uh-huh, and I'm the daughter of Arceus," she said. Ignoring the sarcasm, I looked at her with a 'what the fuck' face.

"Who the fuck is Arceus? And I'm serious by the way." She pulled a chair out and took a seat, pouring herself a glass of wine to which I just waved her permission to as I took another drag.

"That is a load of tauros. There is no way someone can just go to and from Sootopolis in even one day while conducting their errands there." I noticed how her tone changed from slightly bubbly, to more serious. She then narrowed her eyes and peered at me. "Unless…"

"Unless what? I have a source of help?" I finished for her, to which she nodded. "Well in all honesty I did, but I won't share that with you. Besides, I's not like I even liked the place anyway. I swear that when I return, _I'll kill him,"_ I said, the last part muttered to myself.

"And why's that?" I looked at her. Trying to read her character by her posture, facial expression, features, anything that could give me a read on what this person's life was like. From the way her body was built, it seemed like she worked out on a daily or bi-daily basis. She definitely worked out her ass, that much was so pleasurably clear, but her arms were also fit. Not buff, not skinny, but just right. She leaned in like an interviewer would, trying to hear, see, and smell every detail she could possibly get. She had no bag, and her dress was too… yeah, to hide anything that could be deemed as a threat. I stopped at her eyes. My blood dropped a couple of degrees when I realized they were doing the same thing I was.

I mean, as long as I didn't reveal anything about Melanie, then I should be good.

"What's your opinion on Pokemon?"

"What now?" she asked, forcing back the obvious giggle. I blushed, clenched my teeth and fists, and cursed myself for saying that name for how old I was. But I was in that world now. But besides, no one here refers to them as that. They call them…

I took a deep breath, "What is your opinion on… chimeras," I cringed as I said that word, hoping the God and Melanie would forgive me for using such a name with such a horrid meaning.

I looked into her eyes, now wide in what appeared to be fear.

"Oh," she gulped, "I'm-I'm sorry, I'm not really comfortable with the subject. I had gone through a rather traumatic experience as a child coming into contact with one of them," she said solemnly looking down at the ground.

"So I'm guessing you hate them? Pretty much all of them?" I noticed her cringing again as I pushed on the subject.

"What? No, I don't _hate_ them, I just don't like them…"

"I call bullshit. People can tolerate things they don't like; but things they hate; they can't stand it. And that's where you are. You can't stand the sight or thought of them because you hate them or whatever it is they did to you! Am I right?"

"No!"

"Am I right?!"

"No and keep your voice down," she said in a forced whisper, "I don't hate them! I love them more than anything alright? How can you hate such creatures with overwhelming power and incredible detail? They have feelings just like us! They laugh, cry, and display emotion just like we do… I… I don't hate all of them… Just the one that ruined my life."

I sighed and looked down, feeling remorseful for pushing someone to this limit. But it did narrow down what kind of person she is. She showed everything that would present her as someone with a brain. She doesn't hate all of them, nor does she like all of them. She didn't pick a side, but rather put all of her anger on the one being that caused her pain.

I chuckled slightly in the form of a huff; she was the perfect human. Nice to everything except the thing that threatens her.

I then shook my head and looked down at my watch. 23:30. I didn't have time to start being philosophical in my own head.

"I'm sorry for pushing you like this. Look if you want to talk to me about it, just give me a call. Don't know if I'll pick up depending on if I'm busy, but I'll try to call you back if I miss it. Alright?" I picked my head up to look her in the eye, but was disappointed to find she had already left.

"Sir?" I snapped my head to the direction of the voice to find the waitress holding a piece of paper in her hand. "Your check."

"Oh thank you," I replied, taking the slip from her hands and onto the table. My heart stopped for a second when I saw the price: 1,200 Aten. Slowly, and as discretely as I could, I took out my tri-fold wallet, and counted each individual bill and its worth. In total, it all added up to about 450.

"Money problems?" she asked with giggle. I shamefully closed my eyes and nodded. But snapped them open again when I felt two arms go over my shoulders and feel my chest. Two soft lumps pressed against my chest and her neck resting on my head; her hair tickling the sides of my face. In a flash, I grabbed one of the arms, but was late in grabbing the other which had already held a vice grip on Richard. The simple action thus freezing my every move while also making my face heat up a bit. Putting the two and two together I came to the conclusion that this lady believed that there was more than one form of currency in this establishment.

"Uhh…" was all I could get out.

"You know," she whispered in my ear in a sultry voice, "If you'd like, I could help out your financial situation if you're willing to help me."

I gulped. "Do you work at a bank?" I just wanted to end the mood and get home.

"I could be a bank of some sorts," she mentioned before proceeding to flick my ear with her tongue. "Mmhm. You're so enticing, you know that? If you're looking for dessert, I could-"

"Yeah-yeah lady I get the message. I got it long ago when you decided to feel me up – now… I'm not sure I 100% agree with this…"

"Though your friend here does," she said giving my package a teasing squeeze, eliciting an involuntary groan from me.

"Buuuuut, if I'm willing to do this, I need to know what I'll get in return."

"Aren't two free dinners not enough?" the tanned beauty asked.

"Two dinne- oh I get it," I realized. I kept my head down in order to concentrate on not letting myself go. "Not saying that it isn't enough, rather, what else are you willing to throw in? Maybe a small token of appreciation, information, an artifact… whatever you got that might help me out in other ways."

"How about this?" she asked I looked up and pissed my pants. Not really, just figuratively.

In front of me, for a half a second, was a pitch-black head with glowing, blood-red eyes and what looked like a brass mouth. The eyes flashed once and the thing disappeared. I turned around and found that no one was even behind me or talking to me. In fact, the place was deserted. I began to breathe heavily, an aura sphere conjured in my hand.

A shaky, child's voice echoed through the air, carried through the wind like a whisper. "I… finally found you…" It said.

"Hello? Sir?"

I woke up with the feeling that I was falling. I looked to the voice and saw the waitress there holding the check in her hand, giving it to me.

"Oh, thank you," I said with my mind still trying to grasp what had just happened. "Umm, weren't you just here?"

"No," she replied cheerily, "I was off working at another table. Why ask?" she asked as she kept a hand behind her back while twirling her bangs with the other. Her legs were crossed like she was nervous.

"Just… wondering… I guess. God I had a weird dream. I mean, you were feeling me up and wanting to fuck… I mean wanting to have sex with me since I didn't have enough money to pay for my check…" That was when began laughing. "Of course, there's no way the check would be that much…" I said before actually looking at the real check, seeing the real price of 1,200 aten. I gulped.

Looking to her, her face was a bright red and her legs were squirming. I guess she really does want me.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, raising my hand to her shoulder. I immediately regretted that decision when she jumped, looked at my hand, then fainted with a smile on her face. "Oh shit," I mumbled while looking at her unconscious body on the ground. I pulled out my wallet to look at my poverty in physical form, but was surprised to see that there was much more than that dream had shown me. Counting it all, every aten added up to be 10,000.

Looking around, everyone in the vicinity was looking at me and two waiters came by to check on the fallen waitress. I explained to them the situation and the understood completely, explaining that she's very nervous when it comes to a guy she finds an interest in. A rather opposite characteristic than my dream.

I paid the amount in full cash and took my leave accordingly. I was done with the festival. Though on occasion while walking back to the inn, my mind could help but wonder about Nadira. What exactly did she go through? And What pokemon was it that made her feel this way?

* * *

Coming up to the door of the inn, I checked my watch: 00:12.

Damn that restaurant stays up late. I walked through the doors and through the halls until I came to our room and went inside. It was eerily quiet, but that was to be expected of this hour. Oh well, I couldn't feel anything greater than jumping into my own soft, comfortable… dragon.

That's right: dragon. Melanie was in her draconic shape, sprawled out on _my_ bed, drooling on _my_ pillows. We decided that I was going to sleep next to the air conditioner in a fair contest of rock paper scissors. I was going to kill her.

Or at least I would, if it weren't for two things. One, was the fact that regardless if she was a gigantic, deadly, feathered dragon, she looked kinda cute sleeping in that position. Almost like a dog rolling around in the grass like it was high. The other was what she said:

 _"_ _Don't even try, Michael."_ Now I didn't know if this was in her sleep or not, but I wasn't going to test the waters on this one. No spank you. So I just went to what was supposed to be Melanie's bed and followed her sleeping example of sprawling out.

I was beat. It had been a long day and ending it with that dream wasn't really helping.

And why am I still talking about this dream? Because it wasn't exactly a dream, much like it wasn't exactly reality. If anything, it was more like a vision or hallucination. You can tell that something was a dream when you wake up and everything feels and looks completely different. But something that looks and feels just like everyday life is kinda hard to distinguish from actual consciousness.

Anyways, the point is, my compadres, is that this 'hallucination' was pivotal in my time in this world.

Because tonight, was when the nightmares began.

* * *

 **Wow I know right? 4 weeks and this is my product. Honestly, it would be longer (in more plot, not depscritive words) If I wasn't busy in the last month. I didn't even have a single weekend for that time! I guess it's what happens when you sell your soul away for four years. Oh well. Using that time out in the field, I did think of some key plot points later on in the near _and_ distant future.**

 **Actually I may start another story. I'm not sure. Of course this one would be my primary, but another story I want to work on is digging away out of my brain, wanting to be put out there. What do you guys think? The plot of it would actually help shape my current story's future.**

 **And another thing. If anyone could refer me to a good beta reader, that would be great. Really. Sometimes I miss little flaws or forget they're even there in the heat of putting the plot on paper... or screen for this matter. Getting a second pair of eyes to keep my story fluent and perfect is the best thing for the story right now.**

 **Anyways, tell me what you thought of this chapter. Good? Bad? Action-packed? Boring? Also, I'm opening the story to suggestions on what Pokemon Michael will have for his journey. Limiting to six excluding Melanie, Riolu(Kudah), and Chance.**

 **Chapter 7: Lilycove Dreams**


	7. Lilycove Dreams

**a/n: I do not own Pokemon. If I did... well, I'll let that little tidbit unfold on its own.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Lilycove Dreams

 **September, 2003**

 **{3** **rd** **Person}**

Michael stared lazily at the whiteboard, trying hard to stay awake in such a boring class, but not hard enough. His cheek rested against the palm of his hand as his elbow on the desk kept him sturdy. Every five seconds felt like a minute, and every minute; an hour. His head bobbed up and down involuntarily, struggling to keep his consciousness until lunchtime came.

But his reason for staying awake had nothing to do with his fear of being caught sleeping again. This was another, more sinister fear. Every time the little child closed his eyes, the true entity of darkness returned to take over his mind. Nightmares of all sorts plagued the 8-year-old every night, resulting in horrid screaming when he came back to the world.

They only started about a year ago for Michael, but he felt as if he had them ever since birth. The same being every night haunting his state of mind inn its most vulnerable position.

He never spoke of these, and moved on from them; ignoring each one as he went on throughout the day. His father once told him to be strong. But that was before that day. Before that forsaken day two years ago. No one had been counting, but the tragic memory lived on in the hearts and minds of those who witnessed it first or second hand.

And while most believed that Michael's past was a sad case, there were those that thought of his situation as a means of entertainment. And those individuals eyed the drowsy child as their teacher continued on with their addition lesson.

[…]

During lunch, little Michael would sit far off from everyone else; underneath a shady tree that most nowadays would consider a hang-out spot. For him, this was routine. Every day at lunch, he would take his home-packed lunch bag, containing a healthy collection of a ham and cheese sandwich, fruit snacks, an apple, and a Capri Sun pouch, and sit crossed-legged underneath the shade of the tree. He would say a small blessing and thankful prayer to God and begin eating away.

As he munched on his nourishment, he would watch carefully the bugs and birds that came by and away. Sometimes naming the ones he considered cool.

But as modern days progressed, even finding a friend in the small wild life proved to be difficult. He was just too tired. He had forgotten about the prayers he tried so hard to continue saying in order to eat his food as fast as possible; perhaps giving him enough energy to last throughout the day without seeing the darkness once again.

"Hey there faggot," he heard a voice sneer as his head was faced down, slurping the juice pouch as fast as he could. When he looked up, a cold shiver ran down his spine. There in front of him was Gentry Mullins and his goons: Marshall and Zac. They were the bullies of the second grade class Michael was also in. Though Gentry could have been passed for a fourth grader… he was supposed to be at least.

Michael just stared, hoping that by remaining silent, he wouldn't be picked on.

"Hey, he's talking to you!" Marshall yelled at the fatherless boy, puffing his form out to resemble a looming gorilla. He was, after all, the heftiest one in the group. This made the victim flinch in reflex, but not fear; he had other things to fear.

"…I didn't do anything… please leave me alone," Michael said in faux begging. For his age, he was actually quite smart. Able to use his wits in hasty decisions, getting out of trouble was a strongpoint for him. Those with age and experience silently thought of him as a lab mouse used to the format of experimentation: he would give people what they want, and only what they want, if it would benefit him. He wouldn't cross another inch of a boundary unless he was certain of positive gain.

"You hear this, boys? He wants us to leave him alone," Gentry mocked causing a fit off laughter inside of the gang. "And what if we don't want to? You gonna call your _daddy_ on us?"

Michael could feel his heart beginning to thump. Gentry had struck a nerve in the poor guy, but what could he do?

"Don't say that," he said, raising his voice a little. But without warning, Zac sucker punched his gut, causing him to collapse to the ground in pain. He wrenched from the unexpected hit and began rolling around while the bullies laughed. Tears began to form on Michael's face in a mix of physical and emotional pain. He wished his father was here.

But the more he wished and wished while the bullies laughed, the more he realized that his father wasn't coming, and a new emotion began to bubble up. None of this had happened when his father had left. So he questioned why he had to go in the first place.

In his painful pondering, Michael felt another kick in his back. And another in his legs. And another in his head. With each strike, the energy he had to stay awake depleted, leading to Michael crying and shouting to stop.

"Aww, the little baby's crying now. Do you want daddy little faggot?" Gentry taunted with a smug look, enjoying how much fun he was having.

"Please! Please stop…! Ow! Please don't!" More and more the kicks came and his consciousness rapidly fading away like dust in the wind. He didn't know how much longer he could take; but the only thing he could do at this point was hope to God that a teacher would come and put an end to his misery…

But even if the beating did stop, how would the misery end?

With a final kick to the head, Michael was knocked out cold, bloody, broken, and bruised, and the bullies stopped.

"What are you doing?" a new voice cried out. All three turned to see the newcomer, and a blush quickly arrived on each of their faces… well all except Zac. In front of them now was Victoria Diaz, otherwise known as "the prettiest girl in the second grade." Or at least she was to Gentry, who was beginning to have those sort of thoughts at his age.

"Uh, nothing…" Gentry said, foolishly attempting to hide his guilt. But once Victoria had caught sight of their finished product, she had no choice but to scream – and Marshall had no choice but to muffle her cries with his hand.

"Shush! Don't tell anyone!" Gentry said in a hushed voice, looking around to see if anyone had heard. Unfortunately for the victims, the screams of children on the playground masked the trouble that was occurring.

Tears fell from her eyes as she began to experience and relive nightmares of her own. She shut her eyes away from the world in an attempt to find the happy place she always went to in hard times.

"Look at me," Gentry said calmly albeit forcefully. She refused his request-disguised command. "Look at me!" he said louder, harsher, and with a little more force behind it. He couldn't exactly understand the feeling that was building up inside of him, but for one reason or another, he was liking it. He was already familiar of power and dominance that subjected those he deemed beneath them to his will. But this was new; it was more powerful, rawer, more primal than anything he had felt in his young age.

His lips had curled into a devious little smile when Victoria's eyes had opened to look at him with pure hatred. But that all went away when she glanced behind him – whatever she saw making her effectively shocked.

Nothing prepared Gentry for that short-lived feeling of dominance to disappear so quickly and become replaced by an equal force of fear when he felt a finger tap on his shoulder. He was already looking at Marshall and Zac in front of him, and Victoria was trapped by the bigger of the two. Both, plus the young girl, had wide eye full of question and horror.

That meant there was a newcomer, and a threatening one at that. But he never would have thought that Michael would be the one to be tapping on his shoulder so expectantly.

Though each person thought differently on what Michael was about to do, each one was thinking one feature that they all agreed on…

 _This wasn't Michael._

The blood on his head was still leaking out, slowly, but still bleeding. His posture was different than any had ever seen him with. He was standing confidently, like nothing in the world scared him; not even the bullies that knocked him unconscious. His head was tilted to the side with a calm smile etched on his face, and his eyes were wide and unblinking.

Gentry gasped at seeing this figure in front of him, staring straight through him like glass. When he leaned to the right to see what he was looking at, Michael's eyes followed him like a painting.

The picture of horror then tilted his head to the right very slowly, patiently, almost like time had slowed down. In the process, bones in his neck cracked and popped loudly enough to make a shiver go up everyone else's spine simultaneously.

As he cracked his knuckles without even moving his hands from their positions, his next eight words stained Gentry's shorts with urine, "I've been waiting for a year to do this, Gina." The rest was a blur for Victoria, who fainted at the first crack of a nose.

[…]

Ms. Diana looked for her missing students as the rest of the second grade marched off to their individual classes. "Michael! Gentry! Victoria! Marshall! Zachary!" Yet there was nothing. Not even a single sight of them. So she went over the small mound that lay about 4 feet high and took a look over it. She scanned the grounds carefully – looking for any signs that her students were even here, and stopped on a peculiar, and rather brutal, sight.

She gasped as she saw Michael, her quietest student, beating the living daylights out of three bullies. And what worse was that her smartest student, Victoria, was unconscious in the middle of all of this.

As fast as she could, Ms. Diana ran towards the scene, relentlessly shouting "Michael, STOP!" over and over again; but her simple heels would only let her run so fast. She thought she wouldn't make it in time.

And by the time she had, Michael was throwing punch after punch in Gentry's face.

"Michael!" She shouted at him. To her surprise, he ended his strike only inches away from his bloody face. Instead, he turned his head to her, and smiled in a way that would make anyone vomit on the spot. Meanwhile, Victoria had woken up, hoping that it was all a dream.

"Alright," he spoke darkly, yet chipper as a child should, "I've had my fun for now." And with that, Michael, blinked and began looking around. He last recalled having the shit kicked out of him while he was lying on the ground, but now he was wide awake, and found something more horrifying than his nightmares.

He looked at Gentry's beaten and swollen face. He began shaking his head left and right – refusing to believe what his eyes were telling him. He couldn't possibly imagine himself doing this, yet the evidence was right there in front of him. Turning to look at those around him, he saw Ms. Diana's horrified face, and Victoria's incredulous one.

[…]

And when I turned to look at what I had done, the little bastard wasn't beat up at all. In fact, I didn't think it was him at all. His eyes were sewn shut along with his mouth. Yet his lips still separated seamlessly as he spoke with the voice of a thousand demons.

"This is what you asked for you little brat!" he said. His head then morphed into the face of my mother.

"You left me to die in the hospital! I wish you were more like your brother," she said calmly, though it still felt like she had screamed down my ear canal. Then her, or 'it,' morphed its head into my brother.

"You were always a disappointment to the family. You always made a mess of things and I had to clean up every single one. And you wondered why I abandoned you, just like your wife did." Guess who was next?

"I never loved you. I only used you to get close to your brother. But thanks for the money you gave me just to live with you. You were always a sweet little yes-man weren't you?" I think I had it at that point.

"Why would you do that to me?! I loved you!" I shouted as I felt the tears roll down my face.

"Love? HA! I told you, I never loved you. In all honesty, being with you was just a pointless assignment. Getting in bed with your brother was just a… pleasurable bonus." She said, giggling all the while.

"What? Who the fuck sent you then?!"

"Me," Morty said when his turn came up. "Come on now Michael, it's about time you put the pieces of the puzzle together. But I wouldn't stress myself to much if I were you. After all, your father's smarts were never apart of your genes."

"SHUT UP!" I yelled as I began throwing punch after punch into face. He laughed maniacally like he was enjoying it, so with each punch I put in more force.

"Michael! Michael stop this!" I heard my dad's voice say. I wiped my eyes to clear my vision and saw him, or what was left of him. He was missing the top right quarter of his face… my right, mind you. "It's not too late! You can fix yourself. All you have to do is stop breathing." I choked up.

"Dad, I can't. I'm gonna get back. And when I do, I'll avenge you." He sighed.

"I expected you to be a disappointment to me yet again. You were always a failure. How dare you think you'll be able to live up to my legacy? You're not even worth calling you my son. You never were in the first place…"

Things were silent as I processed this through my brain.

"…Dad, I-"

"YOU'RE FLESH WILL BURN IN HELL FOR ALL OF ETERNITY!"

* * *

I snapped awake and sat upright, breathing hard a vigorously from the nightmare. I grabbed my head and hair as I tried to recollect myself. I didn't know why, but it was all so horrific. And usually I don't scare so easy. I just get… jumpy.

I put a fist to my chest as I tried easing my breaths, and it worked after a couple of minutes. When I thought I had recovered, I took one last deep breath while closing my eyes, ridding me of whatever in hell that was.

But my troubles weren't over just yet; a noise from the bathroom grabbed my attention immediately. I looked to Melanie, Chance, and Riolu and saw them all fast asleep despite my harsh awakening. But that meant there was an uninvited guest in our room.

Carefully and quietly as I could, I hopped out of bed, grabbing my knife on the nightstand, and made my way over to the source of noise. I positioned the knife in front of my opposite shoulder and away from me – ready to stab at anything that was there, and reached my other hand out to turn on the lights from the outside.

Quick as a flash, I flipped the switch, and prepared myself for the attack… but it never came. No one was even in the bathroom nor behind the shower curtains, which were all swept over to one side. I took a step in and made a 360 check on the interior before I relaxed and exhaled. I shut the door and turned on the faucet with cold water. After setting the knife down, I ran my hands through the stream, feeling every molecule purge the dirt and nightmares away from me. I cupped my hands together and allowed a small pool gather in my hand. Bringing my face down to the sink, I splashed the water on me, waking myself up completely.

I looked in the mirror to see my red eyes as I went to grab the towel. But only out of the corner of my eye, as I went to dry off my face, did I notice that the man in the mirror disobeyed its only law; then every bone in my body went cold. I brought the towel down to get a good look at 'me,' and was surprised, to say the least, to find his eyes were glossed over, almost like they were pure white.

His mouth moved, speaking, but I never heard a single word he said. I thought it was a whisper, so I did what any guy in a horror movie did: I leaned in closer. But I grabbed my knife for insurance so it was all right.

But leaning in didn't help at all. Everything in the mirror was only a visual. So I just backed away.

The last thing I saw before I woke up for realsies this time was that same demonic face, the one I saw last night at the restaurant, jumping towards me from the mirror. Eyes as red as a blood moon.

* * *

[Present]

Once again, I snapped awake, but was met this time by Melanie's face. Needless to say, our heads bumped and we both groaned afterwards. Though I was still breathing heavily from the nightmare.

"Ow that hurts," Melanie groaned, "Are you alright?"

"…I'm…good…just a nightmare…" I said in between breaths.

"Just a nightmare? Michael, you were screaming in your sleep! The manager had to come up and tell us to calm you down," she said in a scolding fashion. Though as realistic as that would be for Melanie's antics, I was still skeptical on whether I was really awake. So I went for the line that was sure to see if I was awake…

"Tell him to go fuck off," I said, though regretting it almost immediately.

A dark aura ensued around Melanie's figure; one so powerful that my special vision was unrequired.

"What… did you… just say?" she asked darkly. As I thought of different ways to get out of dying, Chance climbed up on my lap and nuzzled his head on my chest.

 _"_ _Daddy you're awake! I thought your bad dreams wouldn't end."_ I looked at him sympathetically, and then to Melanie with the same look, only a hint of smugness added in.

"Yeah it's all over little guy. Just a little nightmare that's all," I said smiling as I scuffed his head.

 _"_ _Oh, what does 'fuck' mean?"_

And in that moment, a powerful pulse of draconic energy had exploded, throwing objects and appliances all over the room, making a mess of things. Melanie's eyes weren't even human anymore; they were glowing a brilliant… I'll just leave it at glowing.

The blast continued for several moments until it all came to a stop as if nothing had ever happened.

"Eevee, you mind playing in the other room with Riolu?"

 _"_ _Sure Mom!"_ he yipped excitedly before scurrying off into another room. As soon as he was out of sight, the door shut on its own and Melanie stared at me with that same look that could kill.

"Not even gonna ask what kind of nightmare it was?" I asked sheepishly.

"Oh I'll give you a nightmare to speak about."

Emotionless: a state of mind that possesses dragon/humans when their temper has gone out the window. A picture of a certain dragoness is the ideal image of the word.

"Why are you thinking of that?" she asked referring to my inner monologue, her annoyance bringing her out of her horrid state.

"Humor?"

"What am I gonna do with you?" she complained, pinching the bridge of her nose as she sat at the foot of the bed facing me.

"Well, we could…"

"I don't want to hear it out loud."

"It was a joke," I explained with a chuckle.

"Don't wanna hear it… _Anyways,_ are you ready for Lilycove?" She asked, looking at me with actual concern for the first time in a while.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I think if I made it this far I could make it anywhere don't you suppose?"

"I 'suppose' that if I wasn't going with you, you would destroy the entire region without even knowing it…"

"Okay! You've made that point quite clear now," I said putting my hands up in false defense. She giggled for the first time in a while. And – oh… my… GOD – did it sound so heavenly. I actually smiled greatly for the first time in my own while, albeit shaking my head at the same time.

"What's wrong?" she asked, confused at my predicament.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"You know; I could still read your mind…"

"Like you haven't already been?" We both chuckled at the truth of the statement, and a sense of happiness began to rise up inside of me. Not the _good_ kind. You know: the simple, good kind.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked, wondering what she as getting at now.

"I've been thinking… aaannd I shouldn't be reading your mind. And before you say anything else, let me just explain myself," she said, calling my card before I laid it down. "You have a past…"

"No shit…"

"Watch it… anyways, you have a past that has created you as you are now," she stated, motioning her hand up and down to me. "And due to events in that past, that has led to some mistakes for one and feelings of distrust for another. It's not my right to pry upon your mind, one being that I don't know any of my species in their right mind that would want to read what's going on up there; and, 2, it's not the right thing to do. I feel that me being able to read your mind is causing you to restrict yourself all the way down to what you are thinking. That's not what I want. I hate when humans or 'pokemon' alike are afraid to think what they want to. It leads to the wrong people being put into the wrong places." She became silent after a while, and I decided to speak up.

"Well I'll be damned; you have a soul. Not like most of the women I know," I said with a small smile.

"Well I'm not completely human to be exact," she said, creating a golden mist between her fingers as she tensed them.

I thought about asking her what she meant by 'not completely human,' but I figured that I was just overthinking a simple fact.

But going back to her not-so-little apology, I looked at her under a different light. Kinda like when you think you know someone to be good, and then they do something that makes them look like they're perfect, but they don't even know what they did was really all a big deal. Yeah… that's how I felt.

"Alright, well I'm going to get ready, or, 'freshened up,' as people from your world say. I'll see you outside?"

I laughed again, "Yeah, see you there." As she left, an overwhelming urge came over me, "Melanie?"

"Yeah," she said, turning around to look at me just inches away from the bathroom door.

"You have a… great smile. Don't hide it," I said, gaining the courage to look her in the eye just as I finished. Her form of acknowledgement was a giggle that turned into a small smile before going into the bathroom and locking the door.

* * *

[1 hour later]

I sat on the small steps in front of the inn, waiting for Melanie, Chance, and the mutt to exit so we could leave. While doing that, I had lit a cigarette. I told myself that I would only do it in times of great stress, and though this wasn't stressful, it was too happy for me to go without one. My eyes were watery as the emotion clogged up the internal mechanisms of my mind.

Melanie and the two mammalian creatures finally exited the building, but I didn't move from my spot. I felt the dragon walk closer to me and peer over my shoulder.

"You're smoking?" she asked like a disappointed friend. I nodded, sniffed, then retorted,

"I almost made a mistake, Melanie; one that almost ruined my life." As she walked around me for a better look, she finally noticed the tears.

"Oh my, what's wrong?" she asked, extremely worried for me.

"Don't worry about it; it's all in the past."

"No, no more secrets alright? I need to know if what you 'almost did' was something even worse." Oh how I loved her distrust in me. So I told my story.

* * *

[30 minutes ago]

"Ah, time to get ready for the big trip," I said as I looked in the mirror, preparing myself for looking sharp. I brushed my teeth, washed my mouth out, flossed, washed my hair, combed it, and applied shaving cream over my stubble; all with the products I purchased two days ago.

I hung a towel over my right shoulder and rinsed a razor in the water to prepare myself for the shave. That was until I realized something.

Looking into the mirror, I remembered that I was no longer in the military, and so shaving was no longer a necessity for me. I saw my reflection staring back at me as I wiped the shaving cream off with a wet towel. Staring at the second trademark of manhood, my reflection gave a stern smile and nodded in affirmation of my looks.

For half of my life, I shaved my facial for the sake of my job and status. But looking at myself now, at how much I've grown, I've come to realize that today is a new day. And my beard will grow into one that becomes the envy of every man on the planet. Both mine and this one…

* * *

[Present]

"Are you kidding me," she scolded with her arms crossed.

"I'm not," I said proudly after taking a drag.

"Dear Arceus, it's just a beard…"

"Hey you don't say that!" I quoted.

"…there is no reason for this much emotion! None!"

"You women just don't understand."

"I don't think we'd want to. Well, are you all ready to go?" she asked. I nodded and stood up, putting on the straps to my bag. Chance and Riolu both yipped excitedly. And then we made our way to the ship where we spent the next day and a half traveling to Lilycove: Hoenn's City of Dreams.

Time flew by quickly with us all napping for the most part. Except during times like chow and night-time entertainment. The latter not as exciting as the first time before we hit Mossdeep, but still pretty good all things considered. And I was actually surprised at Abraham's attitude towards Melanie, Chance, and Riolu on the ship.

Turns out, he's known Melanie was a Latias all along. He was actually sort of in the same boat as me, not literally (though it is close), and I mean by being saved from disaster by Melanie. He was a shipwrecked survivor of a fishing boat and Melanie took care of him for a week before returning him back to the mainland and helping him build his scurvy empire.

Now he didn't share this story with me, but when I asked him why he was so calm around the three of them, she thought it best to tell me his story though. That other guy, Dean was his name, was kind of shady. To Melanie and I at least. He didn't exactly hate pokemon, but he sure as hell didn't like them. As for the rest of the crew, Abraham only hired those who were neutral or kind towards pokemon. He feared that if word got out that his cooperation with a creature of her species to his crew, that they would quit or tell the rest of the world and his business would plummet.

While on there, I also told Melanie what happened when I was at the festival last night. I showed her the money that magically appeared there and the ghost-thing or whatever I saw in that dream. We both agreed that it might have correlated with my nightmare this morning, but for only being several hours after the occurrence, she decided to let it go for now, but keep it in mind. According to her, occurrences like these weren't often, but not exactly rare; stranger things have happened.

Anyways, I caught an eyeful of more pokemon as what they really looked like. Not those stupid animated sprites. Luvdisc jumped out of the water like dolphins and a new species I didn't quite recognize was along with them. It was a long name I didn't bother to remember… something that started with an A. There was also a small islet full of lazy walrein and dewgong. And along with them was another one that looked kinda offish. It was a blue sea lion looking little fucker with fur around its neck that puffed out like a frilly collar. Little guy was snotting bubbles twice its size and bouncing around on it like a toy. Melanie forgot what it was called, and I didn't bother trying to remember it from whatever game it was that I played. But overall, the little guy looked kinda cute. Like he was just so happy all the time.

Going back to the ship, the food was still amazing. I even sweet-talked the cook into giving me a few recipes to try on my journey as I go along. Oh man, I could just tell Melanie was about to die of laughter when I… nah I won't tell you. Come on, I gotta a story to continue, remember? Sure comedic relief is great and all, if you consider it, but not a half of a chapter filled with it…

Right… three walls…

Right… Lilycove.

* * *

So true to Abraham's word, a day and half after departure did we arrive at Lilycove. And wow was the place a beauty, though it did resemble a 1970's New York City.

As we docked, I stared out into the bustling streets; scanning the city until I caught sight of the tallest skyscraper there was. It was still in construction, but it looked like a massive feat for the residents of the city.

After the four of us had left the ship, we gave our final goodbyes to Abraham and his crew for a while. Melanie had expected us to reach the city of Rustboro by August or September, so Abraham would pick us up around that area by then after his big stop in Slateport.

At least time measurement and recording was similarly constant in this world.

Anyways, after our departure from the sea unto the land, we spent an hour trying to find a hotel in the city that would house us for about a week. I told Melanie that I wanted to stay here longer to plan the journey ahead as well as get myself back into shape before I go into the wild for survival. I didn't want any accidents like Sootopolis to happen again any time soon.

After finding the hotel, I decided to let Melanie and the other two stay here and rest while I went out and walked my running route I would conduct tomorrow morning. And for how urban the city was, finding a way to run throughout the entirety of it wasn't all too challenging.

I started from the hotel, which was a little west of the center of the city – but not the border – and headed north into the suburbs. I found it to my liking that this part of the city was built on a gradual slope; it would be great for working on power. I followed this route, which turned its direction to northwest after about half a mile, for a mile. After reaching the border of the city, which was marked by a thin tree line looking over a cliff, I turned east and made my way towards the port for about a mile and a half. Upon reaching the edge, I turned south into a small beach that stretched for about a mile before bending around a cliff. The sand would be great for working on the agility and stability of my feet while on the sand. I only went a little over half that distance and made my way back to the hotel which was a mile-long straight shot from where I turned.

After planning my morning workout, I took it upon myself to stroll the streets and observe life in the area. Nothing was too far off from the way my society worked, except for the fact that people weren't clinging to their cellphones every second of the day. I found out the hard way when I began inspecting the inner mechanisms of the phone I got back in Mossdeep, as I was walking, and I ran into a young adult who thought it was a good idea to scold me afterwards. I had thought about hurting him then and there, but when I came to the realization, after looking around, that there was absolutely no one on their phones in my visual vicinity, I had apologized and moved along, shoving the device back into my pocket.

I was actually astounded seeing no one glued to their phones, despite the obvious lack in advancement compared to my world. Kids were playing together; teens were enjoying time around each other, some even playing along with the kids; and adults ran about conducting their own business or enjoying the day for what it was with their own friends. Society here was… almost perfect. Except that there were no pokemon.

Now I did understand how why no one displayed their own creatures in public, much like my world rarely did, but it just threw me off. After watching the show and expecting pokemon to run around in the streets playing alongside those children, remembering that this world hated them put me back into perspective; and reminded me of my reason for exploring the city.

I noticed how no one even mentioned pokemon even with my boosted hearing. But moving along into the suburban areas of the city, I was actually dumbfounded to find them treated as pets. Not only that, ones that loved the children, and received love back. Now these weren't the towering killing machines like back on the island; these were the basic evolutions of their species.

It was then when I understood what Melanie had been talking about back before we left the island. These were the domesticated species of pokemon that didn't evolve, or revert as I would call it, until the fighting spirit within them has unlocked and started the evolution process at their current age.

But to my luck in almost discovering a good thing in this world with this mutual relationship, there was a correlation in these households. Nearly all of the ones who owned pokemon pets in their backyards were in a higher class than those that didn't.

So owning pokemon in this world as an example of status in this world… not love or friendship or whatever the fuck they preached the game back home.

I sighed after leaving the last house, which owned a black and red cat that stared at me with glowering, yellow eyes. It was nice and all seeing so many pokemon as they would appear in real life, but the way they were looked at in this world took it all away from me again.

* * *

The next four days came and went without anything too major going on. Riolu had tried to come along with me to 'see what kind of pathetic workout' I was doing, but Melanie restricted him, fearing what would happen if humans saw him running out and about. Of course he pouted, and I laughed and began my workouts early in the mornings.

First was the run, which about half-way at the beach I stopped and took a light swim to cool down my body before returning to the hotel. Then I ran back to the beach and performed a circuit consisting of core exercises, pushups, leap-frogs, and sprints in the sand as well as the water.

I had to push myself to ignore the comments and complimentary stares people who apparently had nothing to do at this time. But it was nice. Feeling the wind and sea breeze wash over my face as sweat had rolled down it. Truthfully it had been a while since I did this recreationally. Ever since… well, you know what happened.

Upon returning, Melanie would always tell me I stank, I would always give her the bird in a comedic fashion, and I would shower; thus putting on a new set of clothes and taking my dirty ones to the nearby laundromat.

After that, we, meaning Melanie and I, would eat breakfast down in the complimentary buffet and talk about plans for the trip and what not. One conversation actually got a little side-tracked and I began telling my life story; before my 'birth date' that is. And after that, we would take breakfast up to the room so Chance and the Mutt could eat.

I made a mental note not to ever again bring Riolu a bone from a ham hock I found while sneaking around in the kitchen. Truth be told; he says he's not a dog, but I've seen better bullshit in the better years of my life.

The same routine continued for lunch and dinner and the day would always end with me practicing forming objects with my aura.

And let me tell you; that was a BITCH to do.

Making a sphere off any size smaller than a basketball: easy. Containing and preserving the sphere: easy. Healing myself: easy-ish. Making a football out of aura? Fuck. That.

Let me start off by saying that attempting that inside a room was not the brightest idea Riolu, Melanie, nor I had. Instead of focusing on making its shape while keeping the energy release on a leash, I ended up releasing the energy upwards and creating a crack in the wall.

By the second day, in which our sessions moved to the night so we can practice outside, I was able to manipulate the shape of my own aura… barely… and it was _very_ exhausting. But I could form a football so that was alright. Now the problem was what happened when I jokingly threw it. I still had the energy built up; so when I released it, it had broken a nearby tree horizontally in half.

By the fourth day, creating the shape was easy, nearly instantaneous, but still nowhere near as good as Riolu's quick formation of a scimitar. And I could hardly keep it in its specific shape for long.

But in doing so, my endurance has increased tenfold in everyday exercises. Running became lighter, sprints became faster, jumps became powerful, and holding my breath in the water increased by 20 seconds each day. It had to do with the muscle recovery thing that Melanie talked about on the island; where it made me stronger faster.

But in all of this, I still had the nightmares. Granted they weren't as extreme, but they still contained the same elements. I was a young lad in school and things got… a little hazy. And they always ended in an exact clone of me mouthing strange words before I woke up. The demon hadn't appeared, but that hardly changed the strange nature of them at all.

Melanie decided we should visit a shaman or some other motherfucker like that to get me checked out. It was just a small detour off the western road, but the sad truth was that it would delay my project of getting back home for a while.

But other than that, life was pretty relaxing. And God; did I wish for days to stay just like that. Simple; easy; relaxed by my standards. No deadlines to meet or people to worry about. It was just me, myself, and I…

Or so I thought until Riolu snuck out of the house to join me on my morning run around the city. I didn't find out until about half a mile on the first mile going north I heard him running behind me. As I ran, I scolded him for sneaking out of the house like that. And with no interpreter, it was basically a one-sided argument.

He wouldn't stop running so I gave him an ultimatum, "When we reach this right turn going west, you and I are going to race until we get to the docks. If you win, I'll take the blame; because you know she won't believe me if I said I didn't know. But if I win, I'll tell her the truth and that you deserved to have your dog-chest shaved. Deal?" His silence was more than enough for me.

"Fucking dogs." Looking ahead about 3-400 meters I saw the turn, followed by a blue blur running ahead of me, "You son of a bitch!" I yelled as I picked up my speed. Sure he was fast, but in my short training, I had gotten faster.

Unfortunately for me that only meant that I was able to keep up with him. When I increased my speed, I sensed his aura reading mind and he went twice as fast. A little cheater he was, using aura as a way to beat me without anyone seeing him.

Furthermore, luck was just not in my favor today. About a quarter of a mile down the road, an asshole decided it was just the best idea in the fucking world to just jump out from between two buildings and run into me, causing us both to tumble and fall into a roll.

"Son of a… watch where the fuck you're going!" I shouted at him once I recovered. He took twice as long to do the same, and when he did, he looked back into the buildings where he came from and grabbed a hold of my shirt.

"They're after me! They're after me!" he exclaimed shakily. Meanwhile, my brain was still processing his hand grabbing a hold of me as I stared at it. When my mind returned to the present, I flashed him an over-cheerily smile.

"If you don't let go of my shirt, I'll give you something to really run away from." I felt something flash in my eyes, and my guess was that he saw it too; because he started running away from me now.

I sighed in a mixture of anger and disappointment of him ruining the race.

Well, nothing good would come from me just standing here, so I was on my way again towards the rally point Riolu and I were supposed to meet up.

But while doing so, a cold presence shivered inside of me, unlike anything I ever felt before. As I blinked, I saw the images of the ghost from my dreams haunting the inside of my eyelids. It felt like with every step I took, it was telling me to turn around and go home. And I actually wanted to.

But if Melanie found out the mutt was missing before I found him again, she would surely kill the both of us… well _he_ doesn't matter, but she would surely kill me.

So I just shrugged off this feeling and continued towards the docks, which were in view at this point. But I just couldn't see him. Not wanting to spend so much time and effort looking for him, I activated my aura-vision and scanned the vicinity for him.

I had learned two days ago that every pokemon had a different 'aura signature' just like humans had fingerprints. And although there was no type classification here, I took note on how the types I was familiar with had their own color to correspond with. Fighting types, like the mutt and… Machamp… had a blue just a shade darker than sky. Normal types were more of a baby blue. Those that could fly were orange. Water types; a deep ocean blue – who would guess, right? And the last that I had seen were poison types, which donned an ugly deep purple, almost black.

But getting back to Riolu… I couldn't find him. I looked every direction I could when I arrived at the pier, and he was nowhere to be found.

I started to panic, "Riolu! Where are you! This ain't funny!" I shouted, hoping to get him to stop this ridiculous game. But he was still nowhere to be found, "Riolu!" I began approaching anyone I saw, asking if they happened to see a blue, bipedal dog running around. Some looked at me funny; some ran away, afraid of the way I approached them; others told me to go fuck myself without actually saying that word.

And that was when true fear settled in. As I stood there upon the pier, looking like a damned fool all the while, my mind had an internal conflict on whether I should go wake up Melanie to go look for him or not. I already knew the answer; but in all reality, the thought of telling her was too horrific. I could already see the pain and emotion in her eyes if she found out.

But, if I had any chance at finding Riolu, she is the only person that would be able to help me. So with a deep breath, I broke into a sprint back towards the hotel.

As I ran, I looked left and right for any sign of him by chance. And by some chance of fortune, as I passed the buildings that one man ran out of earlier, I caught sight of a limp, familiar blue aura in a man's arms. I immediately stopped and snuck stealthily towards the entrance of the building, stopping behind a corner to get a good look without being seen.

The man took the figure to a door guarded by two men in suits and sunglasses. One had a mullet and the other was bald. If the situation hadn't been so dire, I would've laughed at the cliché. But Riolu was kidnapped, and I had to get inside that building.

I was about to begin walking to the door when something grabbed me by the shirt and used immense force to drag me into an alley. It happened so fast my mind hesitated my natural reflexes in order to process what had happened.

But I was able to conjure up an aura sphere when whatever had grabbed me threw me into a roll and on my feet. Only for a second, when I looked, there was nothing there… until a girl appeared, turning off her invisibility as quick as light.

And who was this girl? Why Melanie of course!

Her body: oh so ready to kill me. Her face: oh so ready to scream. Her eyes: oh so ready to… well you can imagine at this point.

My knees shook and the aura sphere dropped; not fired – dropped, like a bowling ball.

"Melanie," I acknowledged rather surprised, "I see you're up."

"Shut up and let me speak," she commanded.

"Roger!"

"Let me begin with one thing," she said somewhat calmly before sighing, "I know this isn't your fault. So don't get too flustered with making an excuse or trying to defend yourself."

I was caught off guard to say the least.

"But," she continued, "Fact of the matter is, Riolu's been kidnapped, and we have to save him. Okay?"

"Yeah. That's exactly what I was thinking," I said quietly. I was still surprised by her demeanor, but also scared to try and make any sarcastic remark to try and ease the situation.

"Alright, wait here for my signal."

Wait, signal? What signal? A tactical approach from her is definitely a first time experience for me.

With a flap of her wings, she changed her simple attire into a rather suggestive one like Nadira wore when we first met. Actually, she looked just like her; moles and all. I was unaware that her ability to shapeshift was this expansive as to look just like someone we had just met. Speaking of which, I started to wonder how Nadira's been doing since I last saw her at the festival.

Without saying a word, she played with her hair a little bit to move it out of her face and adjusted her assets as well as taking a look at her own – well not _exactly_ her own – ass. Then she walked away with the greatest booty swing I've seen in this world towards the door and out of my sight.

But what as that damned signal? I readied a sphere in my hands as I thought about what she could be doing. I hope she wasn't having any _fun_ with them in the meantime. Naw she couldn't be that type of gal… could she?

After a few moments, I saw her coming back, but hand in hand with the mullet guard who seemed to be enjoying her booty swing as much as I did. Melanie caught my eye and winked at me. Though I was rather confused on whether that was a "alright here's the signal" wink, or a "wanna join in?" wink.

But as soon as I saw mullet-man fill his hand with 'Nadira's ass, my eye twitched and my hurled my ball in his face… That didn't sound right.

But the man's neck broke so I was satisfied. Melanie wasn't, however.

"Michael! What the hell," she said in a hushed voice. She came up to me and looked into my eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked sincerely for a change of pace.

"uuuhh… yeah? Why wouldn't I be? And shouldn't I be asking you that? I mean; he did grab your ass," I tried to get her to recall.

"You're not feeling, weird or anything?" She asked, ignoring my previous statement.

"Melanie: Riolu" I reminded her.

"Whatever," she said shaking her head. Now it was my turn to look at her funny. I mean; she did just shrug off Riolu's situation. "Just put on his suit and I'll get the other guard. Come to the door when you're done"

I complied without talking back as she walked away again. To my surprise, the man's suit actually fit me pretty well. Nothing was too tight and, looking into the reflection of a window, I looked pretty damn good.

Satisfied with my appearance, I left and made my way to the door to see the guard standing there like he had been when his partner was with them; with the addition of Melanie holding the door open for me.

 _"_ _Just be normal. I shifted his mind so we'll be alright to walk in,"_ I heard Melanie say, though she sounded like she was out of air; which was weird if you think about her speaking in telepathy.

As I walked past the man with no hair, he nodded in affirmation, "Sir," he said with respect. I returned a nod in acknowledgement and continued my way through the door with Melanie right beside me. The interior of the building was well established and decorative if I say so myself. A well-cared, red carpet with yellow patterns on it reminded me of one of my ex's favorite dresses. I wondered how she was doing back home.

 _"_ _Do you know where he could be?"_ she asked me.

"Gee I don't know, Melanie. Let me think of all the times I've been in this specific building in this wonderful city on this rock that I've apparently lived on my whole life!" I whispered harshly to her.

"Okay, quiet down! I get it, just; can you sense him?"

"Just give me a second," I said after letting out a grunt in annoyance.

In moments, my aura vision came to me and I scoped the place for Riolu's aura footprint. Luckily for us, I had found it within seconds and began to follow it to his location. As we walked, I had just noticed that Melanie had changed back to her blonde look with an attire of a modest, yet luring, dress.

Probably to match with my formality, I supposed.

The hall was completely empty; almost abandoned to my good fortune. It made it all the more easier to track down Riolu's aura to a single door in the middle of the hall. I stopped.

"What's wrong?" Melanie asked.

"They went in here," I said, pointing to the door on my right. I took a breath and reached out for the handle. Only to find it locked.

"What the hell… come one!" I complained as I continued wiggling the knob.

"Hey, what are you doing?" shouted a man's voice from down the hall. I looked to the source to see a man dressed in a similar attire to me.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to open the open the door," I responded letting go of the door.

"Why?"

"Uh, Jim told me my pokemon's in here," I said.

"Pokemon? What are you… Oh for the fights?"

Fights? What fights? I looked at Melanie and I could see her face paled.

"Uh… yeah. The fights." The man started walking towards us, but I couldn't sense any hostility in his movement.

"I'm sorry sir, you'll have your chimera back one the day's events are over. Come with me; I'll take you to the donor's box."

Before he could even grab me with an outstretched hand, Melanie lugged him to the ground with a power-packed punch.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed before covering my mouth. She really knew how to surprise me. When he hit the ground, the man was in a daze, holding his head. Before he could come to, Melanie bent over and gently put his palm to the side of his head.

I watched as he began to convulse slightly and his breathing had gone raspy and uncontrolled. Almost like he was choking. At this point I was too frightened to stop what she as doing… whatever it was. When she finished, she reached into his pocket and took out a ring of several keys before handing them to me. The man was left completely unconscious.

"Umm… what was that?" I asked as I took a single key she had picked out for the door.

"I just looked into his memory…" After putting the key in the hole, I looked back at her. She looked like she was in deep thought.

But that reminded me of about a week ago when I was on the ship. I had only now realized that was what she did to me; that as what made me go berserk for a second.

"Is there a reason people almost die when you do that?" I asked, turning the key as I spoke.

"They have to be thinking the same if I read their memories. So I dig them out and watch them."

I didn't bother to open the door just yet, "Okay but that doesn't explain…"

"Using their brain to dig up memories halts all of their bodily functions. Breathing and seeing included. I force the memories out and that's all they think about… That's all they can process for a memory extraction."

"But couldn't you try to make I a little less… I don't know; harmful?"

"I'm a dragon not a psychic; what do you want- you know, just open the door. I don't want to think about it."

"Yes ma'am," I complied.

As soon as we stepped inside, bringing the body with us, and shutting the door, we were out of words to say for what we saw.

A giant room was filled with about a hundred cages. Each one holding a pokemon like a prisoner; the cages were too small for them. I saw machokes, makuhitas, mightyenas, grovyles, marshtomps, and many more howling and whining. How I couldn't hear them from outside was beyond me.

I looked to Melanie for anything, and got nothing. She as just as, if not more, dumbfounded as I was. So taking initiative, I began searching the cages for Riolu, using my aura sight to my advantage. But I was without luck. Every blue aura I saw, I ran to, only to be disappointed by the sight of normal, water, or even another fighting type other than him.

Melanie on the other hand was lost in her own world. "Who did this to you," I heard her say to a few cages. But they weren't looking at her. In fact, the crying had seemed to quiet down and all eyes were on me.

I felt scared. They looked at me with eyes that said, "Save us!" But I couldn't do that. I was here for Riolu and letting them loose in the city would only make matters worse for all parties.

"What are they looking at?" I asked with a heavy breath.

"…They recognize they're in the presence of a guardian. You."

I did a quick once-over for all the cages and was angry at the fact he wasn't here. Could you believe that? Me wanting to save the mutt.

"Dammit! I can't find him!" I shouted as I hit the wall. Silence filled the room even more so; leaving everyone inside to hear my heavy breathing.

And that made it easier to hear a sort of howl mixed with a bark. But I ignored it, mistaking it for another cry for help.

All eyes were now on a single cage on one side. Inside was a quadruped with white, blood-stained fur and vicious claws on its feet. What sparked a memory of the creature was its distinctive scythe curving up on the right side of its head: Absol.

"What's wrong?" I asked. The absol barked again.

"She says she knows where Riolu is!" She barked once more and Melanie's mood shifted. "… She says… she wants to speak to you directly?" she asked in confirmation; however, the absol continued to stare directly at me.

"Well how the hell do I do that?! You know we don't have a lot of time left," I spoke to both of them.

"Auuur!" the absol howled.

"What do you mean tainted?!" Melanie shot back. I pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance from the lack of understanding and walked towards her cage.

"Alright; fuck it! I'm making an aura connection!" I said aloud. I took a couple of deep breaths and opened my eyes; focusing on the black aura that seemed to reach out for me.

"Wait! Don't!" Melanie said to me.

"No Melanie! As much as I hate the little fucker, it goes against my personal morals to just leave him to die… And besides: I haven't gotten the chance to kick his ass myself." When I came within arm's reach of the cage, I extended my hand and placed it on top of the dark-type's head – careful to avoid accidentally slicing my hand off.

In a show of black light and smoke via aura, the connection was made.

 _"_ _Testing. Testing. Is this thing fucking working?"_

 _"_ _Yes it is you dolt,"_ I heard a snarky, high-class woman's voice say.

I paused for a moment before turning to Melanie with a deadpan expression, "Hey how do you break the connection?" She rolled her eyes and the absol continued speaking.

 _"_ _I know where they took the blue pup. I'll share the information with you for a price…"_

"You want to escape; I'm guessing?"

 _"_ _Precisely."_ Things can never be easy for me. _"However, I want the rest of these pups' freedom as well. No self-respecting being should live in a box."_

Ain't that the truth.

I was actually intrigued to hear her say that after judging her behavior with Melanie and I. But I was also caught between havoc running amuck in the city and the chance of not finding Riolu fast enough.

"Alright, yeah sure. Just tell me where he is," I said with a bead of stressful sweat running down my face.

"Michael! We can't just let them all loose!"

"Well what do you want me to do Melanie? How else are we going to find him?!"

 _"_ _The longer you two bicker like imbeciles, the shorter his lifespan will become,"_ the absol spoke cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Melanie asked.

 _"_ _You two know this is a fighting event, right? I can tell you now that if you don't save him within the next five minutes, his opponent will be bathing in blood."_

"Alright, I've lost my patience." With a quick aura sphere, I broke off the lock; setting her free.

 _"_ _Thank you, now follow me,"_ she commanded as she began to run off.

"Wait what about-" I said before being interrupted by Melanie.

"I'll take care of them. Hand me the keys and go save Riolu now!" she said. Not wanting to waste any more time, I tossed the keys and followed Absol to a different door.

[…]

This one led to a long, circular, and rather ugly hallway with dim lighting. A stark difference to the one we entered from. Cheers were audible the moment that the door had opened. Now I'm not one to question all the day to day activities of this world, but an underground dog-fight, if you could call it that, in the morning light was kind of retarded in a sense.

"They seriously aren't letting him fight are they? He was passed out about an hour ago!" I mentioned as we ran.

 _"_ _That's how they induct us. A horrible method of putting us to sleep, kidnapping us, and then throw us into a fight to see if we'll survive. This is only induction; the real fights begin at dusk when your kind favors the taste of hard liquor. I've seen it far too many times… here!"_ We stopped in front of a set of metal, double doors where I took a second to catch my breath. The cheers seemed to be going up and down on the status of the fight.

I pushed open the doors that held a short, sandy corridor with a Roman-style drop-down cage blocking entrance to the pit. Even from this distance as I walked closer, I could see what was happening inside with Riolu's back towards me.

Riolu was bent over, clutching his side and clenching his teeth as his opponent circled him. It was a dark blue-furred creature that resembled a weasel. It was proudly equipped with razor-sharp claws and was adorned with some sort of red, feathery crown and similar ears. A noteworthy feature was the gem on its forehead that looked like it held some sort of power. It growled ferociously at Riolu like a badger, but appeared to be smiling all the while. Almost like it was enjoying all its glory in his pain.

Quick as lightning, he pounced on Riolu and slashed his leg, leaving him in pain on the ground. I Immediately grabbed the cage, "Riolu!" I yelled amongst the screams and cheers. He was unable to hear me so I attempted to pick up the cage myself. "Come on! COME ON!" I grunted in effort. But it was no use; the damned thing wouldn't budge.

 _"_ _You won't be able to lift that yourself,"_ Absol mentioned to my annoyance.

"Well I don't see you helping you fucking… auuughh!" I screamed, not wanting to call her that word. "You told me you would take me to save him!"

 _"_ _Yes, but I didn't tell you it would be easy just walking in there. Did I? What'd you expect, guardian? An open pit where those that weren't made for fighting could easily run out of the arena? I can try to break open the cage, but I need you to do two things._

 _"_ _One; I want you to step back so I don't dismember you. And two, give the blue pup encouragement enough for him to stay alive until we get in there. But be warned: once we get inside, getting outside is a whole different obstacle. The humans inside will be more than displeased with a battle that's interrupted."_

"Whatever it is, just do it!" I said as I took a couple of steps away from the cage. "RIOLU!" I yelled at the top of my lungs; yet, he still was unresponsive to my call. That's when I created a tiny aura sphere to be shot through the gate and tap him on the head.

He seemed to react to that fairly well, however, and turn his head to the side – the marble narrowly missing his nose. It reminded me of when I first met the little fucker and threw my knife at him with intent to kill. But after a second of shock, he turned around, eyes wide at the sight of me while his body was facing in my right general direction.

"Riolu! Can you hear me!" I called to him before noticing the opponent getting ready for another strike, "DODGE RIGHT!" I yelled. The mutt immediately rolled to his right, instead of doing a forward roll, only to barely miss the sharp claws that teared into the dirt. Apparently the mutt thought I meant _his_ right; I guess I just have to adjust.

"Heal your wounds on the run!" I shouted. In the meantime, Absol was attempting to ram the door with her horn. "Is that gonna break?" I asked her.

 _"_ _Don't be stupid, I'm just sharpening my horn."_

"This ain't the fucking time for that!" I yelled at her.

 _"_ _Relax, I'm only jesting. My goodness; are you human's always this sensitive?"_ she asked in a stuck-up manner.

"I regret meeting you. Riolu, you healed up?" I asked him. He seemed to be running around just fine, except for him being winded as expected. I activated my aura vision to see what type this creature was; its aura was black, just like Absol's. But this one had a little bit of a very light blue mixed in. Normal maybe?

Remembering my knowledge of the game, I recalled that fighting types did well against normal, so this would sort of easy. "Riolu, fire an aura sphere!" He only growled and shook his head before running to the creature at an incredibly fast rate that I remembered as a 'quick attack.'

But his attack missed as his opponent leaped upwards at the last second. I noticed its left claw was glowing with that same light-blue it had inside of it as it jumped. It was about to make an attack.

"Watch his claw!" I shouted before turning back to Absol, who seemed to be meditating. "QUIT FINDING YOUR GODDAMNED CHI AND BUST OPEN THE DOOR!" I screamed at her. Though she remained unresponsive until her horn began to glow slightly for just a second. When the small light died down, she opened her eyes and howled before her horn began glowing again, but more powerful this time. It was a hot-pinkish glow. She swung her head around in a circle as if she was roaring and flicked her horn towards the cage as if it could fly off.

And if that wasn't weird enough to see, while my normal vision saw nothing, my aura detected a strong force of energy shooting towards the cage with a thump.

 _"_ _Keep talking to him!"_ she told me as she swung again.

I looked back to Riolu who was dodging his opponent's attacks left and right before something I never thought I would ever see happened.

Double team. I remembered it vividly, but nothing compared to what it would look like in real life. In an immensely unrealistic display of cunning, the creature prepared to make a leap at Riolu, until a barrage of similar looking creatures jumped out instead like a baseball pitching machine on the highest setting. If it weren't for my aura sight, I wouldn't be able to tell which on was the real attacker.

But I couldn't say the same for Riolu. He looked like he just wet himself at the impossible illusion, and was petrified by the sight. It was too late to make a move when the opponent punched him square in the chest, knocking him back several meters.

"RIOLU!" I yelled to him. But he wouldn't get up. He tried to in his struggle, but that's all it was: a struggle. He was too exhausted to push himself up, and I was behind a cage, watching it all unfold right in front of me.

And miss bitch to my right had no success breaking open the cage, yet she didn't seem stressed by the fact at all.

Where is Melanie at? I wondered in all of this. She would easily break the cage without giving two fucks about being seen if it were for Riolu's sake.

I had also just realized that with all three of us in this location, that meant Chance was in the hotel room all by himself. Would he be safe? Could the kidnappers get in there as well? I thought to myself in horror of the subject. But I could only hope that he was alright at the moment, and that he wasn't in any trouble.

* * *

[3rd person POV]

Meanwhile in the hotel room, little Chance was watching a children's TV show as happy as a bird.

 _"_ _One fish… two fish… three fish… four fish! Yay I got it right!"_ he yipped happily. _"Mommy! Daddy! Look I can count to… oh right. They're not here."_

His pointed ears drooped down at the thought of his alleged parent's not being here to see his accomplishment.

 _"_ _What to do?"_ the little fox pondered with a face for deep thinking. And just like that, an idea came to his head. _"Oh I can go help Daddy with finding more of his 'pokeman!'"_ He gave an affirmed nod before jumping off the table and meeting face to face with his biggest problem yet: a locked door.

 _"_ _I will conquer you, fowl beast!"_ he yipped as he got in a battle ready stance. With a small, puppy-like howl, he ran to the door and jumped at the lock… only to hit his head and find pain in his efforts.

 _"_ _Ow. Mommy I… oh right. They're gone… What to do?"_ he pondered.

What to do…

* * *

[Michael's POV]

I'm sure he'll be alright. But enough about worrying about him: Riolu's opponent's claws began to glow that icy blue again and he walked ever so slowly towards Riolu. That same familiar walk of a hunter moving in for the final strike.

"No Riolu get up!" I shouted. He tried and tried, but his body was still too weak. My mind and heart raced, wanting this real-world nightmare to end as fast as possible. "GET UP!" I screamed again, but to no avail.

 _"_ _Michael where's Riolu?"_ I heard Melanie ask through telepathy. I turned around, but she was not there.

 _"_ _He's still fighting and we're trying to break open the cage but it won't budge. I'm trying to get through to him but he won't listen to me and he's too exhausted to get up! We need you down here Melanie!"_

 _"_ _Call him Kudah, he'll respond to that,"_ she spoke, ignoring my remark of getting back with us.

 _"_ _What the fuck is that gonna do!"_ I 'yelled' at her. Her next sentence made my hearts drop.

 _"_ _MICHAEL! SAVE KUDAH AND HELP ME!"_ she screamed. Even as telepathy, I cringed at the incredible shrillness. She was in trouble, and I've never heard her ask for help like this before.

 _"_ _Melanie! What's going on?! Melanie?_

"MELANIE!" I yelled. And there was no response. I turned to Riolu and heeded Melanie's advice, praying that it worked.

"KUDAH YOU GET YOUR ASS UP AND FIGHT BACK! MELANIE'S IN TROUBLE AND I DON'T GIVE A GODDAMNED RATS ASS IF YOU'RE TIRED! FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF LATER BECAUSE IF YOU DO NOW, I'LL COME IN THERE AND FUCK YOU UP MYSELF! DO YOU HEAR ME KUDAH?! MELANIE NEEDS US RIGHT NOW! KUDAH!"

In the mix of a strange light attacking and breaking the cage out of nowhere, myself yelling at the top of my lungs, the sound of various voices cheering and shouting, Melanie's predicament, and the sight of the creature swiping its claw, I had only now realized the truth of the situation.

I made a mistake; and I was already too late.

* * *

 **Wow, I didn't intend for this chapter to be this long. But it'll work out for the greater good of the plot. How'd you like the nightmare? Eevee's behavior at home alone? The drama? Riolu's 'alias?'**

 **So yeah. New city, new arc, new memory and a nightmare, new aura connection, and a cliffhanger? Wow that's a lot. Kinda like Michael's problems... actually that was a list of all of his new problems.**

 **Also, a shoutout to Coolevilshark for giving me the idea of an Absol. I can guarantee you all (Semi-Spoiler Alert) she will be a major key in Michaels growth throughout the story.**

 **As always, tell me what you think. And suggestions are still open for pokemon companions for Michael's little quest. So until next time...**

 **Chapter 8: Lilycove Nightmares**


	8. Lilycove Nightmares

**Yay! Almost 100k words!**

 **Hello everyone. Sorry for the long break. There was just a lot on my mind and getting this chapter done was proving to be a hell of a bitch. I hit a massive writers block and got caught up in vacation and work all at the same time. I won't bore you with the details of everything. The important matter is that this chapter is done and I give a big thanks to my beta reader for his grammatical help on this chapter. My updates are probably gonnna be spaced out a little, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I gotta long way to go before I'm even thinking about being done.. So without further ado, here's the eighth chapter.**

 **I do not own pokemon.**

"Dialogue"  
 _"Telepathy/Aura telepathy"  
_ **"Pokespeech"**

* * *

Lilycove Nightmares

I made a mistake; and by the time I realized, it was already too late.

I fell back covering my face from the explosion that destroyed the gate. The shouts and cheers that once filled the arena with constant noise died down ushering in a period of silence despite the sound of falling debris and rubble. I looked back through the open entryway towards the fight, afraid of the outcome of the battle.

For a split second I thought I saw the clear image of my dad in the center of the ring. He was staring at me, but he was gone in the blink of an eye.

Behind the dust that enshrouded both the arena and where I was standing, looking through my aura vision, there was only one being in the ring I could detect. It was crimson like fresh blood and emanating off the source like a large bonfire.

But even with the unfamiliarity of the presence, I knew in a split second that it had to belong to Riolu. After staring at it long enough with awe taking over my body, a strong feeling of danger and hatred rose up inside of me.

I know what my own emotions feel like and I know what the foreign emotions feel like of those whom I made connections with, but I was getting something entirely different from just looking at him. It was like I was feeling those emotions come directly from Riolu himself as I stared onward.

Without any warning at all he began firing aura sphere after aura sphere above us – at the multi-colored aura of the audience I presumed. As they landed upon their targets, loud booms and screams were heard in a cacophonic outburst. The audience began frantically escaping towards any exit they could find, keeping their heads down as Riolu kept firing, but he showed no mercy. Eventually, the spheres shrunk down to the size of bullets, while still maintaining the same mass, and Riolu let them go faster than ever, effectively incapacitating many men.

" **What is going on?!"** Absol asked with legitimate fear in her voice – a complete 180 from her behavior about 20 minutes ago.

To be honest, I myself didn't know what was happening with Riolu save for the fact he was lashing out in a comparable way to what I did back 'home.' But looking at his typical mischief, this kind of outrage and behavior was like looking at another person or mutt all together.

I stared on at his fury, unable to move because of a lack of willpower. I speculated on what had caused this. Was it the creature? Was it the men in the stands that allowed this sort of event to happen? Was it my 'encouraging' words? Or was it calling him 'Kudah?'

I heard him being called that once by Chance, but I never realized just how he would react to that.

I snapped back to reality when my aura sense detected an aura sphere heading straight towards my head; I dodged successfully and looked at the mutt. Now I felt my own rage rising. How dare he try and do something like that to me?

With the energy from the aura sphere blowing the dust away, I was able to see him without the need of His face was full of pure hatred as he continued staring at me. I put my hands up as a gesture of no harm.

"Easy there, Riolu. I don't want to hurt you." His eyes continued their glare with a hateful shake in them. "I'm _not_ gonna hurt you, but you need to calm down."

" _Are you completely stupid?!"_ Absol asked with disbelief. She spoke through aura so as not to let Riolu catch on. _"Do you not see the catastrophe waiting to occur?!"_

" _Shut up! I'm trying to calm him down so we can go save Melanie. We'll do an AAR after."_ I told her.

" **You mean that imbecile of a psychic? She'll be…"** She stopped when both Riolu and I stared at her intensely, ready to knock her unconscious if need be. I couldn't put my finger on what it was that came over me that made me look at her with such disapproval.

All I knew was that if she's going to stay with us, that attitude of hers will need to be put in check quickly.

I turned my attention back to Riolu who, while still glaring daggers at Absol, had begun to calm his mind. His eyes turned back into an aura blue and that fire of energy encasing him dispersed. At the same time, the dust on the battlefield settled, leaving a view of the creature that was unconscious, no, scratch that, dead. That jewel upon its forehead had been completely shattered, leaving blood flowing down its head into a growing pool on the ground.

So that was why I only detected Riolu's aura. The dead have no aura, no life force to detect at all.

"You good now?" I asked him. He stared at me in silence for a moment, then gave a single, slow nod in acknowledgement. "Alright, let's go find Melanie."

I turned around and began to run back to the compound containing the captured pokemon, only to be knocked down from an aura sphere to the back. Groaning, I turned around to see Riolu running to and past me with the faintest of grins.

" **How dishonorable!"** Absol exclaimed. I, on the other hand, was caught between wanting to get revenge at the moment or scold for his insincerity of the situation.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you when this is done!" I yelled out to him as I stood and began to run with Absol at my side.

[…]

The pound was empty. All cages were opened, granting freedom to all that were imprisoned; which they so gladly took advantage of. But Melanie was nowhere in sight.

"Think they all made it?" I asked directing myself towards Absol.

" **It's obvious they all escaped, you buffoon. Whether or not they made it out of the city is a more important matter."**

Ignoring her snarky comment, I opened my aura to the room, attempting to pick up where Melanie had gone. If her weight as a dragon remained the same as a human, I couldn't have imagined her captors taking her very far. Within moments, I picked up her footprint and told the other two to follow me out the door we came from.

" **I smell something…"** Absol informed, **"…Something… dead…"**

"Probably that guard we took out before we came inside here," I said, waving it off as I went to open the door. But something inside me didn't want to take any chances. What she said put me on edge.

With that, I used my aura vision to look out into the hallway behind the door. There was nothing. No aura at all.

"We should be safe," I said pulling the door towards me.

" **Watch it!"** Absol shouted before a ball of black smoke hit me square in the chest*. I was knocked to the ground before my body writhed in an excruciating, burning sensation. I yelled as it intensified more and more into an unbearable pain that left me convulsing violently on the ground.

Absol started snarling and Riolu began to bark madly at whatever it was that attacked me.

And then _that_ feeling came back; the same one that took over my senses into an uncontrollable blood rage back in Sootopolis. I shook my head over and over, saying no to myself in a similar way to that moment just before you get a cramp; or maybe just before someone experiences their first orgasm. It was a little of both for me every time this dangerous sensation came to me; I knew it was coming, but there was a nigh impossible way to stop it from happening.

I had assumed that Absol was taking care of the situation since Riolu came down to me and manifested his aura into his hands. With that, he applied it directly to my chest, only slightly relieving my pain.

"Get back!" I yelled at him. I didn't want to risk going berserk at this time and having him caught in the crossfire. But as usual: the mutt refused to listen.

Oddly enough, however, I had not lost myself in the heat of whatever was going on. I was actually controlling myself… well with Riolu's help, but fuck him; I did this on my own.

At least that's what I felt at the time.

Anyways, as I got a grasp on the situation, I was taken back by what Absol was doing. By concealing herself within the shadows, she was able to launch several surprise slashes with her scythe-horn effectively on the enemy*.

Getting a good look at it, I wondered once more why this was a kid's game. The attacker was about 5 feet tall with a rather hefty build. Its entire body consisted of two short logs for feet and an upper body with practically no neck. Its head converged into a point with a white cloth sticking out of that point, waving about in an invisible breeze, and it owned a pair of white hands detached from its body. The defining feature off this one was its single, red eye above a clump of cloth that looked like it was covering up its teeth. I think it was duskull or something like that. No, it was a dusclops.

Now that I laid eyes on it, it made sense why I hadn't detected it behind that door. It was a ghost type – a technically dead organism – so it wouldn't have an aura to begin with.

The battle looked like Absol was disappearing into thin air and then reappearing again for a slice, only to return back into the safety of the shadows. I would have passed it for CGI if I didn't know any better.

Feeling confident enough in my stamina, I fired an aura sphere at the dusclops, only for it to phase through like nothing had even happened. Reacting to my attack, the ghost gathered energy from the shadows into a spiraling, black orb – much like an aura sphere – and released it at me. I had only a short amount of time to roll to the side and watch the aftermath behind me. It wasn't much of an aftermath however, since the orb dispersed like the smoke it came from once it reached contact with the wall behind me.

I'd have to look into that another time; the only thing I knew right now was that aura spheres were useless against this ghost… or any ghost for that matter.

Absol continued to attack the monster with countless slashes to the body leaving gashes and tears in the cotton fabric it donned. Riolu was… meditating with his aura forming around his face*. That was until he opened his eyes and released an aura sphere towards the beast, actually hitting it effectively in its eye.

A sound like wind rushing through a small crevice filled the room and the ghost faded away like dust into the wind. It was very anticlimactic, but I had other things to worry about.

"…Melanie," I said after taking a few breaths to myself to understand what exactly had just happened. Finally realizing my purpose for the moment, I ran out the door and followed Melanie's footprint throughout the halls to another room.

I didn't waste a single second in breaking through the door and finding Melanie in her human form, unconscious, on the other side. She was being held at gunpoint by a sweating man in a dark red suit and tie. He looked to be about 50 and was, for the most part, bald with a scraggly, white beard. All in all, he was the spitting image of a typical boss of an underground crime organization.

In a similar fashion to him, I was also sweating and heavily breathing from all the running and fighting. The room was filled with inhales and exhales on both sides; each of us attempting to gather the energy to try and say something intimidating or something to move the situation along.

All I could let out was, "… I'm… gonna fuck you!" I said between breaths putting my hands on my knees. Every soul in the room looked at me in a strange sense. Riolu and the man seemed confused while Absol looked to be abhorred by what I said. "…Whoo! Sorry… I'm not exactly… thinking straight right now… I'm exhausted…"

The man opened his mouth to say something, but I continued. "You know… All I wanted to do… was go for a simple morning run… That's it! I was gonna skip out on the extra shit too… Just a run… But _this_ little fucker… wanted to sneak out and play fuck-fuck games! Then _your_ dumb ass… wanted to kidnap him… Oh my god I'm exhausted!"

I decided it was alright to take a seat. I swear; I couldn't imagine a more confused atmosphere inhabiting a single room.

" **Umm… Guardian?"** Absol asked.

"Michael… My name's Michael Blake. Call me that from now on, and _you_ remember that name," I directed at the man before going back to the absol. "And I'm calling you Astraea from now on. That alright? Yeah? Cool…"

" **What? What does that name mean?"** She asked in an extremely wary fashion.

"I don't know… You remind me of a stuck-up ex that loved to watch… I don't even want to say the name of it. And the name sounded similar to your species." She looked at me, horrified at what I explained.

" **I will not let you bestow a name upon me unless its meaning is honorable!"**

"Too bad; you are now Astraea. Deal with it…"

"What the bloody hell is going on!" the man finally blurted out. He was so lost in the dragged-on situation that his armed hand had begun to shake from exhaustion. Yet, I detected no hostile intent from him. He seemed more scared to take Melanie's life than threatening.

"I don't know Bloodnofski; why don't _you_ tell me what's going on? What's with this whole underground bullshit? And don't worry, I won't hurt you. See," I said while showcasing my empty hands, "Completely unarmed. Now explain yourself."

"Rau Rau!" Riolu barked out, looking at me with wide eyes. He was probably questioning my motives of not wanting to hurt the man.

"What? I'm being honest! We're not going to hurt him… Right?" I asked expectantly to the two conscious pokemon. Astraea stared for a second before realization came upon her and she nodded. Riolu, however, was reluctant or just too stupid to understand. " _Right?_ " I asked again firmer. In a small fit, he growled and pounded the ground with a palm full of aura.

"…What do you want-"

"I want you to tell me what you're running. I'm not a cop so you don't have to worry about being arrested."

"Why would I worry about being arrested?" he asked to my pleasure.

"You see; that's what _I'd_ like to know. If you're not afraid, why is this underground? I mean, pitting these creatures in a fight to the death isn't illegal, right? I mean; as long as no human is harmed, you can do whatever you want to them. At least that's what I'm understanding so far."

"Why don't you tell me why you're here first?! Are you a donor? A break-in? Or are you just stupid?" He asked with frustration.

"Hmm, a little bit of the last two. Speaking of which, you need to hire better security," I taunted while watching a vein begin to form on his forehead. "As for the former… I wouldn't say donor; more like victim of theft…"

Then realization had dawned on me. Well, not really, but I always loved to take things to the next level in '20 Questions' and the like. I smiled widely with an open mouth.

"OH! So you steal them from their owners if they have any! You naughty dog you."

"I-I-I don't steal them…"

"Then why the fuck am I here then? If you don't steal them, why are you sweating bullets right now? Why is half of your arena in smithereens? Why won't you have viewers and donors anymore because they can't trust their lives in your hands? If you don't steal them, I probably wouldn't be here right now. Yosemite?"

"Wha-what are you even saying?"

"Jesus f- AUGHHHH! Just give the lady back already and we can go on our separate ways. Alright?!" I asked, tired of playing a one-sided game.

"No!" the man yelled back, "You ruined my theatre! You destroyed my profit! You may have excelled at getting in here, but there is nothing in distortion that would force me to let you go alive!"

Distortion? What the hell is that?

I sighed. "You know; I excel at much more than just breaking into places. PT, combat, persuasion, drinking, women," I narrowed my eyes in a sly manner, "stalling…"

He looked confused for a split-second before going wide-eyed and snapping to Melanie. Her eyes were open and glowing furiously. In a matter of seconds, the sidearm was ripped to scrap metal by a violent psychic attack and Riolu rammed into the man, sending him flying into the wall.

"Oh Melanie you're awake!" I exclaimed with false surprise. "So can we kill him and get out of here already? I kinda want to see if this city has crepes."

"I don't know what you're talking about, and we're not going to kill him."

"DAMMIT! Wait what?" I asked, shifting my attention to the last part of her sentence.

"We're not going to kill him in front of Riolu," she stated like that was the only reason that mattered. Astraea and I looked at each other knowingly as a small grin crept on my face. Riolu, on the other hand, as busy looking around at nothing like he was following a butterfly. The little bastard even made a little whimper that sounded like he was impressed at it.

"You want to tell her?"  
 **"You want to tell her?"** We both asked at the same time. I held out my fist to her and she bumped it with her claw.

"Tell me what?" Melanie asked like the parent lost in the situation that she was.

The man coughed and groaned as he lay there on the ground, unable to move. "What… what are you going to do to me?"

Melanie turned her attention back to him and started walking over. She picked him up effortlessly by the collar and held him high with his feet inches from the ground.

"…Nothing. We've already freed them and ruined your abominable business. Let this be a lesson to you: _Never do this again!_ " she threatened before throwing him back into the wall and knocking him unconscious.

" **For a psychic, she's quite intimidating,"** Astraea stated. I couldn't help but nod in agreement while stretching. It had been a long morning.

Evidently, however, our job was still incomplete. The sound of explosions shook the room as dust fell from the ceiling.

"Uh… Melanie?" I asked her with worry. "What was that?"

"What makes you think that I know?" she replied back with attitude. I grunted in frustration and let my aura vision expand barely to the end of the block before my head began to hurt. But even then, I was able to sense pokemon rampaging all over beyond what I could see.

Turning it off and directing myself to Melanie, I asked while pinching the bridge of my nose, "Um… did you tell them to wreak havoc on the city?"

"What?!"  
"Rau?!"  
 **"I saw this coming,"** All three of them said simultaneously. I took much interest in Astraea's statement.

"Oh did you now?" I asked sarcastically, "Well thanks for sharing that information with us. Now do push-ups," I told her calmly. All three looked at me questionably as I caught my mistake. "Sorry. Force of habit… Let's go," I ordered while walking out the door.

* * *

Screams and shrieks filled the air as we ran outside. Through my vision, I saw fighters chasing civilians, birds dive-bombing to do the same, and normal types pushing over trash cans. It was like a plethora of young adults rioting and terrorizing the city. If they didn't have the power to cause physical harm, I probably would have laughed it off as a corny children's movie.

I turned my attention to the sky and saw the crescent moon shining brightly upon us. In all the drama of being in another world for the past few weeks, I didn't particular focus on what the moon looked like here. Even then, I still couldn't just write off on the fact that the moon was tilted completely to its side as if to be smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

"Anyone have a suggestion on where we start?" I asked the group.

"We split up. I'll take the flyers, Riolu can handle the fighters on the ground, and you and the Absol go together towards the more powerful ones," Melanie planned.

"Wait, why can't I go alone?!" I asked as she flew off towards the mayhem. "Fucking dragons," I muttered. Riolu had left as well, leaving Astraea and I to fend for ourselves in this little fiasco.

"She said the powerful ones right?" I asked her as I searched the vicinity for any strong aura readings.

" **Yes. Use your gifted vision to find them if there are any."**

"The fuck you think I'm doing?" I shot back while focusing on a fast-moving canine with a bright, yellow aura. "Found one. Follow me."

We ran out of the alley and into a main street with sparking street lamps. Following the footprint, I ran east with Astraea on my tail until I saw a blue-gray wolf with a spiky mane that was a mix of yellow and cream… Okay forget the stupid description, it was a manectric.

It was cornering a civilian couple clinging tightly to each other. The wolf growled viciously and sharp cracks of static electricity sparked off of it; it sounded like the numerous firing of rifles at a range.

"STOP PLEASE!"  
"SOMEONE HELP US!" Both screamed. If I had been a millisecond late in firing an aura sphere, the manectric's bolt of lightning would have struck the man's forehead and ended his life. For now, the most he could have suffered is blacking out, possible loss of hearing, major disorientation, and a slight chance of brain damage. But what would I know?

I watched the canine land on its side before quickly recovering and looking straight at me with feral eyes.

" **Take the humans to safety, I'll deal with this pup,"** Astraea said while facing the manectric with indifference. Knowing that I was the only person that could carry that man safely to safety, I complied.

"Vaughn! Vaughn wake up!" the woman cried as she cradled what was probably her boyfriend's head. Hearing my approach, she whipped her head towards me with eyes that cried a river. "Please! Please help him! We're having a baby soon and I don't think I could- "

"Back away from him unless you want to be shocked too," I ordered her sternly. She was hesitant, "Okay I'll be honest, I don't know if he still has electricity in him or not, but I can't have you near him while I do my thing. I'll help him, but I need you to step back. I promise he'll still be alive."

I saw hope in her eyes for a second before she put her faith in me and backed away. Taking a deep breath, I put my hands together and let my aura flow through them. I place my hands on his head where most of the damage could have occurred and I worked my magic. For being the first time healing another organism, I had no idea what to expect for a reaction.

Meanwhile, the whips of lighting could be heard behind me as well as howls and barks from both sides. It all sounded like a mad dog fight between two pets. I could hear small whimpers from Astraea biting the blue canine.

But the sound of a man screaming bloody murder drowned everything else out. I looked underneath me and he was writhing and convulsing in a violent seizure. I became scared and accidentally began to flow more of my aura through him – completely unaware of the fact that it was the cause of this reaction.

"What's happening to him?! Vaughn!" the woman cried out scared for her boyfriend's life. It didn't help in the slightest.

Every second I was forced to listen to that horrid scream was another increase in the amount of my aura I gave him. While it did flow out slowly like taking a constipated shit, I was beginning to tire myself out. My breathing became heavier, my head was lighter, and all noise began to converge into a single, high frequency, flat line buzz.

It was because of this that I didn't hear the muffled woman's voice telling me to stop. I was in a trance with a single focus on making this man's pain end. His screaming toned down to a halt, but the woman continued. But I couldn't stop yet; I had to make sure this man's condition was okay. I could only be stopped by… a large – and quite abnormally solid – blast off wind hitting my left side.

I had an aura sphere at the ready by the time I landed on my feet. I saw Asraea standing in front of bloody wolf while looking at me with power and some sort of dominance.

" **He's dead,"** she stated bluntly confirming my fears.

"Vaughn? Vaughn wake up!" the woman cried. She placed the back of her palm in front of his face and a look of dread spread across her face like a wildfire during a drought. "…No… No. No No NO! VAUGHN!"

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" she screamed as she looked at me with hateful eyes full of tears.

I could actually feel my eyes dilating while my breath hitched. All words I knew were taken away from me in the last 30 seconds.

I killed him. I didn't realize it until now, but I killed him. His aura had already disappeared when Astraea hit me, but I failed to notice such an obvious occurrence in my stress.

Unlike the other times I've killed, I actually began to break down. There was no reason to, but I did. I vividly remember taking the lives of those that deserved death, those that didn't, and those that stood in my way. Each time, save for the first two, I felt nothing but the recoil of the gun or the density of skin slowing down my blade. It didn't make sense; I was so used to killing that it made a monster out of me. Yet when I unintentionally killed this man I lose it. The nightmare was too horrific. I began asking myself questions without the will to stop or get a grasp on my surroundings.

Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to die because I tried to save him? Why was I the reason for this man's death? These questions filled my head as it became lighter and dizziness ensued. My stomach tightened and churned until I couldn't take the nausea anymore and vomited on the spot.

The sound of metal breaking flesh tuned out all the noise in the city and I cranked my head back slowly. Astraea had rammed into the woman's chest with her horn and effectively cut her heart in plain sight. With another heave, last night's dinner came out of my mouth and splattered onto the stone road.

" **She was going to strike you during your predicament,"** She stated, again, bluntly. True to her word, the woman had a stone the size of a softball by her feet; it had dropped when her life was cut short.

" _Why was killing her better than knocking her out? Hell; slicing off her hand would probably be better,"_ I scolded in an aura message (Mind you; I wasn't able to speak vocally at the moment).

" **If she was unconscious, the other beasts would kill her if they passed by. If I cut her limb off, she would lose too much blood by the time you gained the fortitude to heal her properly. Not only that; being that she is not a guardian, your aura would kill her much like her mate next to her. In both situations, your mental state would take too much stress to carry her to safety or heal her respectively."**

I hated to agree with her, but goddammit she was right on the money. I found myself staring at the two deceased lying next to each other. They died together as lovers; if that isn't a good example of pride and grief, I don't know what is.

After a short break to recover from my sickness, Astraea suggested that we move on. We left the area and headed East following the northern limit of the city. The strategy was that we would secure the northern side and weave our way south covering the entirety of Lilycove – ensuring that all the pokemon were either chased out or incapacitated by any method that produced a favorable result.

As we followed this pattern, we encountered a couple of other manectrics, a machoke that I considered a joke after my day at Sootopolis, a hariyama that was a little easier than that machamp – especially with Astraea at my side – a pair of grovyles, and a combusken. These were all the ones we had no other choice but to kill. Those that we chased off were a couple of gravelers, mightyena, and a marshtomp.

The funny thing was, this city seemed a lot smaller when I ran through it the last four days.

While running around the city, we ran into Riolu once as all three of us took on a pack of manectric and its pre-evolution: electrike. Every now and then I glanced up at the sky to find Melanie having her own little battle. Indeed, I found it strange that these pokemon would dare to challenge her with the amount of power and status she has. For God's sake: she's literally got a fucking golden body!

" **Guardian behind you!"** Astraea said bringing my attention back to the world. I rolled to my right and formed an aura sphere between my hands. This attacker was quadrupedal - almost resembling an alligator and a tortoise – with a sort of metal exoskeleton. It stood at about four feet at the highest arch of its back and was about six feet in length. Its aura was bright silver akin to mercury and had blue eyes that pierced through me like a lance made out of its own 'hide'. Lairon.

It began pawing the stone underneath it, impressively scratching the surface to cracks with a look in its eye that oozed primal hunger. With a powerful, yet small, hop, it smashed its forelimbs on the ground and emitted an impossibly loud roar; the same sound that skarmory emitted flying over Sootopolis. Only this one was much more powerful and effective in rendering my eardrums useless*.

The blood rushing to my head made my face rise in temperature to a point that I almost keeled over to sleep. I probably would have if it weren't for Astraea firing some sort of invisible energy at it with a swing of her glowing horn*. As expected for a steel type, the impact didn't do much to the lairon, but it stopped its cacophony for the moment.

Its next move after that was quite repulsive. The lairon shook its head and gave a few short shrieks like a defensive crow – but with a monstrous roar for its tone – before it started to hunch up and begin to yack something out of its stomach. After a few good heaves, it vomited a large wad of what couldn't be anything other than mud in my general direction*. It was slow, but it practically killed the small, black wolf about to pounce me before I sidestepped.

Remembering I still had the aura sphere in my hands, I fired away at the lairon to see just how study it was. I didn't expect much to come out of it; I was still practically a beginner in this ability. So I wasn't the least bit surprised when the orb barely tapped him on the head like a marble to a wolf.

Only one truth was blatantly clear at this point: I needed power.

A lot of it. I needed enough sheer power to at least knock the monster out. And at the moment, I only had Astraea's strange power as well as my own which probably wouldn't compare to hers anyway. Knowing this, I studied the lairon for any weak points.

Its eyes were perfect targets given accuracy. And its underside might have little protection considering the armor around everything but that. It was heavy, so speed was our advantage here. But that damned armor had us stuck.

Going it over in my head, this was a battle of stamina. It came down to whether we could stay quick or whether the lairon could stand strong.

"Astraea," I said gaining her attention while she stood ready to strike.

" **What is it, Guardian?"**

"I got a plan. It's simple, but it's a plan…"

…

" **Well don't leave me in suspense!"** She complained.

" _You see its underbelly?"_ I asked her via aura. I didn't want the iron monster to get any funny ideas. When Astraea nodded, I continued, _"Alright. That's our target. Be fast and trip it up so it's exposed. Aiming for the eyes would help, but go primarily for the stomach. And whatever you do: don't get hit."_

" **Oh, so you are somewhat intelligent,"** the white sphinx insulted.

I prayed I didn't have a talking Riolu on my hands.

Running up to the metallic beast, I created a large orb between my hands about the size of four bowling balls. It anticipated my move and started screeching that grinding noise again. I hadn't even thought of it mouth as a weak point, so I used this to my advantage and aimed inside.

There were complications however. First, the roar's vibration slowed down the aura sphere's movement in air for some reason. Next, the orb was too large to go inside its body or even get past its jaw. It was trial and error, but a small concussion to the lairon was a feat on its own.

Meanwhile, Astraea begun her meditation for whatever strange attack that always seemed to work*. After a moment, the horn on her head glowed for a second and died down, signaling the end of her prayer. Immediately following that, her horn turned pitch black and a shockwave of shadows purged the vicinity*. It gave me a slight headache, but had seemed to land more damage on the lairon. It shut its eyes like it had a headache and retracted itself almost like a tortoise – if tortoises didn't have a shell to hide into.

To my satisfaction, making my own aura pulse through my head cured the nuisance instantaneously and I was able to fire a few good aura spheres at Lairon's side as I moved around behind it. I focused these ones of their power in speed instead of size; yet, they still hadn't done much.

I began to berate myself on why this wasn't working right. In the games – which I really shouldn't compare to this world anymore – fighting attacks worked greatly on steel and rock types. Both of which Lairon had if I remember correctly.

While Astraea and I ran around in attempt to tire the bastard out, I thought about a way that I could land a good hit on it. Both of our attacks merely chipped away at its iron defenses. While outlasting it was the plan, time was of the essence, and it would take an hour to bring it down before we could move on to the next target. We both needed good, solid strikes to break it.

But what could that be? Making a larger sphere only expands the particles of aura instead of retaining its density while it grows. If I wanted to keep it dense and large at the same time, it would take about 10 minutes of uninterrupted focus to charge an aura sphere that met those requirements. And even then, I couldn't leave Astraea to guard me while also trying to wear the enemy down.

And then the lightbulb turned on.

What if instead of taking a while to create a dense aura sphere, I just compact a regular-sized one to the size of a bullet and fire that? It'll be kinda like what Riolu did.

That could work… yeah. The size would make it retardant to the airflow and vibrations of Lairon's roar. The sheer energy I pack inside would give it enough power to shoot off just as fast, if not faster, as a regular 9-millimeter round. And it would be small enough to accurately puncture its eye or enter its mouth.

Okay, new plan.

Running around to its left side as Lairon focused on Astraea's movements, I formed a single aura sphere between both of my hands and began to apply pressure towards the center. With enough effort, I was able to manage shrinking it down while maintaining the same amount of energy it originally had.

It was funny though; the more it decreased in size, the more effort I had to put in to keep it from being released prematurely. It had nothing to do with fatigue from shrinking it or the like; it was simply becoming unstable the smaller it got. I guess that's what happens when you put so much energy inside something so small.

Finally, after a minute that seemed like eternity to me, the aura sphere had become an "aura bullet." A single bullet was trapped between my hands, ready to penetrate whatever I fired it at.

But what do I fire it at? It's eyes or mouth would be an excellent choice, but I was unsure if it would ricochet from missing and hitting its outer shell. I couldn't fire its stomach for obvious reasons. And its entire fucking body was practically steel… except for its legs.

It would be a good trial and error, but it could turn south very quickly I screwed up. So with all the focus I had, I aimed the bullet at its left foreleg and waited until it moved to another spot on the ground.

When the opportunity came, fshyuum!

The bullet blasted from my hand with excessive force and was lost in sight. But its target was clearly hit. Thick, dark red blood seeped out of the wound slowly. The fluid dripped on the ground like wet paint. Lairon gave an agonized cry like a whale's song mixed with a blender and collapsed toward the injured limb, leaving a small window for its stomach to be struck. But it wasn't large enough for me to take an accurate shot with aura.

Anyway, the memory brought forth another brilliant idea to me. I could fire at Lairon's left hind leg and have it collapse completely on that side and probably fall over; thus leaving a wide opening for gutting this creature.

"Astraea, keep it immobilized!" I shouted to which she responded with a curt nod. I started the process again repeating the same steps to the T to create a perfect bullet. The time for the second bullet was shorter than the first, allowing me to skip this fight to its end.

Releasing the second bullet with more power, Lairon's left foreleg fell and took its balance away. How long; was a question of Astraea's reaction speed. Unsurprisingly she was considerably fast. She immediately leapt to its right side and rammed into it with her glowing horn. At the same time, strange orbs of white light manifested from thin air and struck the metal beast's side as well. With an overwhelming combination of force like that, it couldn't be helped to fall over on its back like; helpless like a roach in the same predicament.

Astraea and I took advantage of the moment and began laying waste to Lairon's soft belly with bombardments of aura spheres, aura strikes, and slashes.

This fight was over, brutal, but over. Now on to the next-

" **Daddy!"** I heard a light voice say to my horror. I turned around to find Chance running to me. But simple surprise turned into dread when I saw a large scorpion-looking monster chasing him without his awareness.

"Chance duck!" I screamed while blasting an aura sphere with all my power towards the dark violet monster. I was quick to react – too quick. The only thing I could think of at the moment was Chance and his safety.

Though it had only taken less than a second, I waited years for the sphere to impact. I was scared. I wasn't worried. I wasn't angry or shocked or confused. I couldn't lie to myself – _I was terrified._

I was scared for the safety of another for the first time in a long while.

Regretfully, thinking of him was probably the reason that my orb had missed its… no, _my_ intended target and impacted on Chance instead. I watched, horrified, as his skull had completely caved in and he was launched back into the pincers of the scorpion.

 _All I did…_

I could only watch as Chance's aura left his body like dust in the wind.

 _All I could do…_

I could only watch as the scorpion devoured his body piece by piece like pulling meat from a crab.

 _All I have ever done…_

I could only watch as the only soul in this world that gave me a chance… had died at my hands.

… _Was let go…_

" **Daddy…"** was his last word.

And then the pain hit. I couldn't explain it, much like the pain I felt from that dusclops' shadow ball. It felt the same; yet, it was a different kind of pain. I've experienced losing a friend or loved one before, several times that pains me just to remember. But the burning sensation was like a physical manifestation of this emotional suffering.

In my loss, I couldn't detect the impact of an aura sphere hitting my back. I wouldn't call it numbness; more like a continuation of what I was already feeling: pain, confusion, loss of breath, stillness. I lay limp wondering why this had to happen.

Why did it have to happen? Why did Chance have to die while I tried to save him? Why couldn't this day just never happen?

Of course! The answer was right behind me. I finally turned around to find the culprit, Riolu, fighting Astraea with savage instinct. His body was filled with the same aura he contained within the arena.

Of course. This was _his_ fault. If he hadn't have snuck out of the inn, he wouldn't have been kidnapped. Melanie and I wouldn't have to break into an underground cock fight to find him. We wouldn't have to release those monsters that did all of this. They wouldn't be terrorizing the city right now. Melanie and Chance would be safe inside the inn. We would be going about our day like nothing had ever happened.

Chance would still be alive.

I should have let the mutt rot in that pit with that sneasel. It should have killed him when it had the chance. He doesn't deserve life. He doesn't deserve the same thing that was stolen from Chance.

Though I remained fully aware of the situation, I lost control over myself. Fuck it, I'll be honest: I had full control. The only thing I lost was the one thing that held me back in every fight: restraint.

Aura sphere after aura sphere was fired at the two battling. My target was Riolu; I didn't care for collateral damage. I didn't give a fuck if Astraea was a casualty. I didn't give a fuck if there were civilian casualties.

He was my target; his death was my goal. Without sparing a second, I formed an enormous aura sphere about the size of a monster truck tire and condensed it into that of a bullet. I created another, and another, and 4 more after that. Lust for his punishment was the only fuel that numbed my fatigue as I created a wall of bullets with his name on all of them.

In such a short time with the brown fox, I created a bond that felt like father and son. The little tyke even called me "dad." Having _that_ torn away from me with the added physical pain brought out a ruthless side of me that perhaps I stowed away long ago.

But somehow, something was holding me back. A small flame in my heart that told me to not lose myself over Chance. I found myself frozen in both time and space as I battled with an unknown entity that acted as if it understood me.

" _We shouldn't do it,_ it said.

But he deserves this.

 _No one deserves death. We know that more than anyone._

This is his fault. If it weren't for him then Chance would still be-

 _What? Alive? Do we really think he would stay in that shae while consorting with us?_

…

 _As sad as it is, Chance was dead from the beginning._

…But this is-

 _Our fault. We were distracted in the heat of battle._

…Melanie-

 _Will hate us even more if we deliberately end the canine's life._

…

 _Do not distract ourselves with the actions of others. Whether it was our intention or not, we did this. It would be wise to leave at least one of them alive for her comfort._

…

 _Be our father's legacy…"_

Hearing… whatever it was… bring up his image caused memories to surge through my mind. Memories of lives I've ended. Lives I took. A single image of a bullet hitting a chest.

And also, the lives I spared.

For a second I could see his figure standing in front of me. He was smiling humbly. He was smiling as if he was glad that he had died; that he was happy how his family's life had turned out.

How my life had turned out.

In a moment of weakness, I asked him, "How can you smile?" And in that moment, I took my hold off of the rounds I made and they went flying. They breezed past my father, turning him into dust, and riddled themselves into both Riolu and Astraea.

"NO!" I yelled. Blood from both of them splashed out staining the ground. Riolu's soul left his body easily, almost unnoticeable.

But Astraea was another story. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as I watched my aura ripped itself from hers and hers from mine. The same pain I felt with Chance I felt her. I found myself screaming bloody murder in agonizing pain and clutching my heart in a desperate, futile mindset that it was going to lessen it.

It all seemed like a small dream. Or rather; it felt like the fantasy of someone who couldn't escape a depression. I don't know. Trying to explain what and how I feel to another person is a lot like trying to read this upside-down… don't even try it.

All similes aside, whatever was happening I couldn't believe it.

I was drawn from my little spell from a loud bird's shriek from the sky. Only it wasn't a bird. But it had wings. Actually…

 _She_ had wings. Melanie descended from the sky with her eyes glowing furiously – brighter than they've ever shined before. Her wings flapped like an eagle gaining altitude and black smoke steamed off of her body. The light from her eyes flashed brightly with the sound of thunder while her scream lowered its pitch into a monstrous roar. With that flash, the light spread across her body in a course like lightning as the golden feathers darkened

The smoke engulfed her body entirely, shrouding her from my vision. Come to think of it, clouds rolled into the area and darkened showing me a stormy night. From the smoke of Melanie, a different, more menacing creature emerged. It was as massive as the tower my father left us from. Its jaw unhinged and displayed two rows of viciously sharp teeth with a forked tongue as long as an anaconda. Its head had a pattern of lightning that crowned it with a terrifying circle and its eyes contained pure, unshaded light that burned my soul to its core.

The naked sight of it terrified me to the bone and I screamed in an effortless attempt to beg for mercy. But those screams were dwarfed immensely when compared directly to the roar this demon beheld upon me. I shut my eyes in a primal "flight" attempt so I couldn't look at my own death and only opened them…

* * *

…when the roaring ceased and the only thing I saw and heard was the soft buzzing of the ceiling fan in our inn. For only a short moment, I suffered what I thought was sleep paralysis. But when I twitched my fingers and blinked, it came to me that I was only terrified of what I saw. I don't know what was more horrifying: the entire nightmare I had back in Mossdeep, or the single monster I saw at the end of this one.

The one in Mossdeep was one of horror. It was like walking into a haunted house.

But what I saw just now… was like looking into what could have been power and dominion in its purest essence.

I turned my head left to thankfully see Melanie, Chance, and the mutt sleeping peacefully together. Well, Chance and Riolu were. Melanie was, once again, sprawled out taking up most of the bed in her human form.

I laughed, then I felt tears of joy stream down my face. I thanked God that they were all alive and safe. That none of this ever happened. But I needed to make sure. I checked my watch, which had a calendar function on it, and sighed in relief when the day was the same as in the dream. It was 2:13 on the fifth day of our stay in Lilycove out of our week long stay.

"So it was probably just a vision of the future," I laughed silently. But then I thought about it more and became stunned at the prospect. What if that _was_ a vision?

I looked at Riolu who rolled over in his sleep kicking his leg like a dog whose stomach was being scratched. I would laugh, but knowing that in a few hours Riolu would be an idiot and sneak out, I couldn't help but look at my feet in sadness. I couldn't let that happen…

Now that I knew what the future could hold, perhaps I could protect all of them accordingly.

 _Could we?_ I felt something inside me tell me. Imagine the voice inside of your head actually having a sentient conversation with you.

"Who said t-" I whispered.

 _Don't speak. We can hear us just fine. After all, we are inside our head._

Who the fuck are you?

 _To us, a memory. To others, we are one and the same._

Okay first of all, what's with the plural pronouns? You and I are completely different-

 _We are the same entity. There is no 'you' or 'I.' There is only us._

Uh huh… and second: what the fuck do you mean you're just a memory.

 _In time we will come to understand. But for now, we were about to let the day go on and change the minute details of our dream to save our companions were we not?_

…Are you telling me that _you_ were the one that gave me that nightmare?

 _No. Powers beyond us are at work. However, that is not to say this isn't a possibility of what could happen. This is why we are speaking to us now._

Uh huh; and what's your point in doing so?

 _Our point in doing so is to warn you that merely changing an event won't change a thing. Since we've been here, how many times have we thrown them in danger?_

Okay guy, I've only gotten Melanie in danger-

 _And what if we continue to travel with all three instead of just the dragon? Will they not be in more danger with the choices we make?_

…

 _We only serve in our best interest. Be it physically or emotionally._

Wait… So you're the-

 _One that emerges when we cannot overcome something more powerful than us? Yes, and no. It is not just us that is inside our mind. But all will come together in due time. And that time is running short. If we want to save them, our best option is to leave them._

"Wait we're not done here!" I whispered.

 _We must decide between the satisfaction they bring us…_

 _Or their survival._

"Wait! You never told me who you are!"

…

"Why the f… hell do I gotta leave?!"

…

"Dammit… that's just great." But looking back at the trio of pokemon, I began to understand what he was saying. If I left, their safety would be more than guaranteed. I would only bring them into danger.

It happened in my dream. It happened back on Sootopolis. Hell, it even happened with Matthew…

The more I thought about it, the more the prospect infected its reasoning inside my head.

I shook my head, "No. I couldn't be that much of a danger to them…" But looking at them again, looking at how serene they all were, what kind of bastard would I be to rip that from them because _I_ wanted to go back home.

Maybe I _was_ the trouble-magnet in all of this. I sulked silently as I faced the music around me.

I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have involved them. This was my mission; my responsibility.

With that pathetic thought in mind, I left my bed to go pack all of my items in my bag. All of my clothes, rations, and the heavenly tobacco were packed neatly inside the bag with room to spare. By the time I was done it was 02:40.

Before I walked outside of the door, I took a longing look at all of them. I wanted to tell them all that I was going away, but Melanie would only threaten me so she can stay. Thinking about an old, dear friend of mine, whom I lost to similar circumstances, my mind was set on leaving.

Again, I couldn't explain what I felt at the time. All I knew was that I was confused, and scared, and worried, and a whole lot more that prevented me from looking back. Pretty much what I've been feeling since I arrived in this hell.

So without saying a single word, I left to face this monster of a journey on my own with myself, a knife, and constant use of the word "fuck" whenever I feel like.

But first, I had to take care of a little business with an underground cock fight ring.

* * *

Only there was no underground, rings, or cocks fighting of any kind. The building that I was shown in my dream was completely abandoned with shattered glass littering its base all around. One door out of the two was boarded. The other looked like it was boarded at some point in the past, but it had been torn down for access. No guards.

The hallways were empty and reeked of mold and decay which made me wonder if my nightmare had any meaning at all. Of course; all dreams feel real until the moment I wake up, but I couldn't shake the thought of being unable to differentiate real from fake. Why would this abandoned shit hole be so important in my sleep if not in reality?

The place was infested with rattatas and other unidentifiable vermin that scurried in the shadows, but not hidden from my sight. Every step I took was one where I waited for something to pop out and catch me by surprise; or perhaps there would really be some underground crime going on here…

But if pokemon rings were legal according to the chief, why would they be underground? Oh right, stealing from others.

The room where all the pokemon were held captive was full of dusty, empty crates and boxes. I accepted the fact there was nothing useful here and moved on to the ring.

As I walked onwards, the smell of rotting flesh burned my nose and brought forth a gag. I've smelt that odor before, but it's been awhile since that event happened. Even then, this was a high concentration – meaning that this was some sort recent massacre that happened.

I looked through the walls and found no life on the other side, but I still couldn't get the smell out of my head.

Regardless, there was nothing for me to see here. Whatever I saw in my dream was just that: a dream. It meant nothing. Yet, I still had this overwhelming need to leave Melanie out of my business. The more time I had to dwell on the subject, the more I was convinced that I was a danger to anyone around me. I was reckless.

The sound of moving boards came from the interior of the ring, inviting me to investigate. I was overcome with shock when I entered the room that had dim lights hanging from the ceiling and everything came into a much clearer view to me. Bones and carcasses were scattered across the room. Some were old, and some were fresh.

However, the most obvious sight of this were the multiple carcasses of dead snakes.

It was at this point when the faintest noise of a shuffle came within my hearing range and I realized that I was being followed. Not only that, the little danger alarm in my head went off and I was forced to react by jumping to my right, avoiding the grasp of a large python's maw. Actually, it wasn't a python; this was a viper.

To be exact, this was a "seviper" which was clearly defined by the stinger at the end of its tail. It was serrated like a stingray's tail along its 'top' end. It looked at me with its head raised like a cobra's and hissed at me dangerously with spit and possibly venom projecting off of its forked tongue.

This thing, like most pokemon in this world, was larger than an Anaconda, and definitely more vicious. Within milliseconds, it closed a distance of 10 meters on me, barely giving me enough reaction time to roll away. I only formed an aura sphere in my right hand and held it out in front of me, letting the snake ram into it with a pop. My arm was blown backwards, but not mortally wounded in any way.

However, the viper was quick to react as well. It flung its tail at me and swiped my stomach in a painful slice. The teeth on it certainly made me aware of its danger seeing as that my cut was more like a scrape. Needless to say, the impact knocked me back some, but the strike rendered me unable to stand up quickly.

Matter of fact, I couldn't stand up at all. I tried, but whenever I flexed my stomach… well… I couldn't feel anything. The venom started off in that area, and then worked its way to my whole torso and pelvis; soon making its way to my arms and legs. That's not to say I couldn't move, just that moving and not feeling the pressure was very, if not completely, awkward and made for failure every time I tried to move.

My aura vision began to blur and dull and my breathing labored into troubled wheezing. I was forced to suffer as I stared at those gleaming eyes that watched and waited for me to just die. The funny thing was that snakes usually eat their food alive or at least right after they're immobilized. But this one wasn't taking the time to even try doing that.

It was toying with me. Just like the rest of its victims in here that weren't eaten and digested. Each visible corpse was a victim of this viper's "fun."

And as strange as it sounds, as strange and funny as it is a reality, that was the thing that pissed me off enough to actually fend off the venom for a short time. It was enough to begin moving my body to pathetically crawl away.

I hated when animals or people play with their victims. It was just a personal problem that I hated to let go on.

Either way, it was futile to even try running or crawling away from the seviper. It would be too fast. But evidently not for whatever it was that just so happened to slice its head clean off. The scaly head fell and roll towards my jewels with its jaws snapping wildly.

Its body flailed around violently, twisting and turning in uncontrolled spasms. The problem of this was its tail which was hitting everything in its vicinity, and would have hit me if it hadn't have stabbed itself into the snake's head and rendered itself useless.

With the threat of it gone, I proceeded to clumsily empty out my bag looking for a specific green bottle with skull inside of a circle with a slash in it. An antidote. It took a few tries, but I was able to crack open the bottle and close my mouth around the opening before the voice of an old man from the shadows stopped me.

"I take it you've never used one of those before, have you?"

"Who aww ooo?" I asked with my mouth still wrapped around the tip of the bottle. And don't get any funny ideas you sick people.

"If you want to delay the venom, then continue onward. But if you want to neutralize it completely… here let me help. Do you mind getting the fang?" He asked another presence in the room. I heard a short, familiar coo before whatever it was trotted towards me with dog-like paws.

I couldn't believe my eyes when an absol came into view, just as real as Astraea was. I couldn't exactly get a read on its aura because of the venom, but it looked just as smug as her the way it walked towards the snake head like a queen to a peasant. Its horn glowed and sliced off several fangs in a messy, yet elegant, fashion.

The man came forth into the light and picked up one of the larger fangs before outstretching his hand towards the antidote. He wore a simple striped t-shirt and khaki shorts with flip-flops. In his other hand was a wooden cane for support. His face was wrinkled with age and experience and he had a well-kept, white beard that fell to his chest. He wore a brown beret upon his head to hide his balding.

He smiled warmly, yet the fact he was awake at this hour with that expression was chilling to say the least. Nevertheless, I put a little faith in him and dropped the antidote in his hand without spilling a single drop.

"Thank you," he said calmly. He raised the bottle to his face and, with careful observation and handling, dipped the fang into the solution where he let it sit there for half a minute. While he was doing that, my condition began to worsen and a feeling of nausea crept its way into my throat. I had to roll over to the side, barely able to support myself up with my arm, and vomited blood and mush on the dirt.

I don't know how long I stayed there, but I was turned over by the old man as he shoved the bottle in my mouth, allowing the solution to wash down my throat and into my stomach. He stopped when the bottle was about halfway empty and pulled it out of my mouth. I coughed as the solution burned my throat and accidentally entered my lungs. The old man then took out a handkerchief and pulled my shirt up to expose the infected wound. I didn't bother to look at how fucked up it was. I just let him wipe away the blood and puss before pouring the remainder of the solution on the cut.

"Normally, humans don't wake up this early to get killed by a seviper; you're lucky my absol sensed something coming from over here" the man said casualty.

"Well lately, 'normal' has been taking a vacation in 'Fuck-You Town,'" I responded harshly to which the man laughed.

"You speak such a strange dialect. It's hard to understand what you're saying, but I imagine it was witty was it not?"

"Sure. And going back to that, why are _you_ up this early?"

"I imagine that now you're wondering why I'm up as early as you aren't you?" He said as if he was trying to mock me. Needless to say, this pissed me off. But I just played along by smiling and nodding.

"Well as I said, my absol had a premonition of something occurring in this area, but I didn't know it would be something like you. I wonder why that is?" He asked as he gently dabbed my wound with the handkerchief. I started feeling a little better and waved him off of me.

"Wouldn't be the first time I was considered special. God if I had dollar for every near-death experience, I'd be rich."

"Huh… that's funny…" He said as he stroked his beard.

"What is, you old fuck?" I asked with a smile seeing as though he has hearing problems… Alright it was probably too far to call him _that_...

"Well you seem to be speaking a perfect Hoanese dialect of Indigo as opposed to just seconds ago you were speaking a more foreign one."

"Can you explain it to me in English?" I asked impatient.

"I'm not quite sure what 'English' is, but a minute ago I couldn't understand you, and now I can."

"Bullshit I've been speaking the same language the entire time. I've been speaking the same language since I was born!"

"…Hmm…" he pondered with his thumb and index finger rubbing the base of his beard, "Well arguing about a fact won't get us anywhere. So how about you tell me why you're in this awful place anyway?"

"…I'm not entirely sure myself… I just saw it in a…" I questioned myself on what this guy would think if I just told him it was a dream.

"Saw it in what now? You gotta speak up son, age isn't a forgiving experience being this old," he asked with a cupped hand behind his ear.

"…well, I saw it in a dream. But it was different. It was like a fighting ring for pokemon," I admitted.

"I'm sorry, what was that word you said?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as he carefully pet the top of his absol's head.

"Oh right; you don't know what it means. It's what I call them," I said while pointing at the white hyena, "instead of the _other_ word."

"Really? Am I to assume to that you feel no animosity towards beasts like her?" He asked wryly.

"Actually I don't," I snapped impatiently, "And also, 'beast' is kind of a cold term to use for them."

"Warmer than chimera," He responded in a similar fashion. His absol purred worriedly and licked his hand.

I chuckled in a defeated manner, "What do you want with me, old man?"

His expression snapped right back to gleeful, "Oh I'm terribly sorry; it seems I've forgotten to properly introduce myself. My name is Arn and this is Victoria…"

Immediately after he said that name visions and memories of a little girl growing up into a beautiful woman came to my mind. That… and the dread that came at the end of her involvement in my life.

I clutched my chest in attempt to soothe my breathing. Arn came closer to inspect and I backed away. It was all over in a moment, but, along with a plethora of other events in my life, I could never forget it. Go figure.

Before he could ask what was wrong, I put my hand up to signal that I was fine, "Okay, Arn, I'm Michael. Now what do you want?"

"I just want to help a man in need," he reasoned.

"Well your timing's impeccable."

Arn chuckled heartily, "Well, as I've said before, Victoria saw something in a dream of her own and took me here. Though, I wondered why a snake pit of all places," he trailed off.

My eyes moved over to _Victoria_ who was staring at me with no emotion. She sat there proper and elegant like the queen Astraea pretended to be.

And, again, I was brought back to my own dream and reminded of why I'm here in the first place.

"Well, I'll be going now," I muttered loud enough for them to hear the echo. I stood up and slung the bag around my shoulder and started walking.

"Where are you headed?" Arn asked a little more sternly, making me stop.

"What's it to ya?"

"A premonition from an absol is a natural occurrence. It can be overlooked with caution. But a dream connecting two minds of different walks of life? If anything that sounds intriguing."

"Look here Socrates, anyone could have the same dream if they have similar experiences."

"But for the same two beings to follow that dream into the same place is a little more than 'just a dream.'"

I sighed; I was not going to get through to this old man. I continued walking towards the door until Victoria blocked my path. We shared a staring contest for a minute before I formed an aura sphere in my hand threatening to release towards her.

"So you _are_ a guardian," he said with amazement, "Yet you're still running away-"

"Not from you-"

"No… from someone else… It's true, I'm old… but because of that, I can look into any man's eyes and find the reason for their actions. Comes with experience. And you aren't exactly running away _from_ someone… more like running away _for_ someone. Am I right?"

I stayed silent knowing that this geezer had me in a box, and a pretty small one at that.

When I turned around, Arn had reached down towards the seviper head and grabbed a few broken fangs. "I won't stop you from going. This is your journey and you should learn from it as such," he walked towards me and carefully placed the fangs in my hand so as not to poison myself. "But I can at least ensure your safety for that _someone._ Victoria," he called.

With a short grumble like a deer, the absol trotted her way to my side where Arn kneeled down to rub her face.

"I know we've spent near a life time together, and I promised Andrea that I would watch over you until death. But _he_ needs us more; so I want you to watch over him now just as I did for you. Can you do that?" He said with slightly quivering lips and watery eyes. The absol, who was more or less the same, gave a light whimper and licked the face of what happened to be her lifelong friend.

"Arn, you don't have to-"

"Thank you Victoria. I'll pray for your safety every day… So as my final request for you, I want you to clear out the exit and make sure there's no harm in exiting the building." Victoria nodded and ran into the darkness, leaving Arn and I alone.

"Arn," I began before he put his hand up and shook his head. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a filled envelope folded in half.

"Give this to her in one year. This is for her eyes only so no peaking, alright Michael?" I nodded firmly and grabbed the letter to put it in my bag. "I saw the reason you're doing all of this… You won't find satisfaction that way," I heard him say as a warning. I formed an aura sphere and snapped my head up to look him in the eye, but he had disappeared.

I knew what he was talking about. The fact that he knew _that_ was detrimental to my goal.

But he was gone now so I ignored it and walked to the outside where the pristine princess was waiting in her elegant sitting position facing east. Through the row of buildings, she watched as the top of the sun creeped over the horizon, greeting us for a new chapter in the journey.

"Come on, our next stop is Fortree," I told her grudgingly. I did need pokemon to fight these battles, but I didn't need a babysitter. As soon as I turned around to head west, a sharp gust of wind pushed me causing me to fall down. I looked back at Victoria who was snickering all the while before coming to my side with her head as high as the sun would be today.

I omitted what I thought before; I think we'd get along just fine.

Little did I know that as we stepped foot on the road to home, something was watching us with wide, unblinking eyes.

* * *

 **Noteworthy Moves Used**

Shadow Ball (Dusclops)

Night Slash (Astraea/Victoria)

Foresight (Riolu/Kudah)

Metal Sound (Lairon)

Psycho Cut (Astraea/Victoria)

Mud Shot (Lairon)

Dark Pulse (Astraea/Victoria)

* * *

 **a/n: I don't really have much to say down here. All in all this chapter kicked my ass and I'm hoping that I no longer get into a situation like this again.**

 **Thanks for reading and thoughts and suggestions are welcome:)**

 **Chapter 9: Victoria**


	9. Victoria

**Hello everyone. Here's my first double-update to ya'll because the next time I finish a chapter will probably be in October because of job shtuffs.**

 **Also, YES! 100K+ WORDS!**

 **A small disclaimer though, this chapter is kind of a slice-of-life deal more than what I have been writing about. That being said, most of the chapter contains flashbacks. But don't worry, I moved the plot along with Michael's present situation in this chapter as well.  
**

 **Enough of my rampant rambling.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the songs used in this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Victoria

 **[Present (R.121 Day 3)]**

There it was in pristine condition. Oh how I've longed for this moment to come. I sent a prayer of thanks to God for letting me find it first. And I must say: the work hath paid off well. It just stood there waiting for me to take it all for myself like the greedy little bastard I was.

 _She_ said I wouldn't find it. _She_ said I wouldn't be ready. _She_ said that I would end up tripping, falling, and slicing my neck thirty minutes in while she stood there and laughed her ass off like the evil, dirty, egocentric, sadistic, maniacal, psychopathic fuck she was.

The scar on my hand set an example on why not to smack her for being an asshat.

But I digress; _I_ just proved the bitch wrong.

Because in the small little clearing surrounded by dense trees I concealed myself in was a fat, brown badger that lied there on its back basking in the sunlight – which is apparently very hard to find in a rainforest like this.

"Okay little guy; just stay very still while I attempt to kill you with plan A or B.

"Your choice," I whispered slyly to myself.

With an evil grin, I drew my knife from my boot and snuck out from the wood line. I carefully took each step with caution to avoid stepping on any sticks or-

 _*snap*_

Sonofabitch. Apparently, I had just stepped on a dry stick – which, again, is a very odd thing to find in a rainforest – resulting in a crack that echoed throughout the forest.

You know that feeling when you sneak out in the middle of the night to make a bag of popcorn and you feel that every movement you make decides whether or not you die that night? And then the microwave sounds like a fucking combat zone in the middle east during a hot fucking day with artillery going off here and there? And you just constantly look over your shoulder to see if you woke up the devil from his slumber and he wants to take you back to hell where you belong?

Yeah. I felt like that.

Luckily for me, little badger-guy down there just kept sleeping like he was hibernating. So carefully, I took another step in a _clear_ patch of grass and took the foot, currently on the stick, off into another clear patch.

I exhaled in a controlled manner before going back to the task at hand. I took another step, and then another.

However, only a couple steps later, a flock of fucking swellow upped out of their little hiding areas making sure _my old world_ can hear their presence. Not once did I take my eyes off of the linoone.

Evidently, this was the laziest fucking linoone I had ever seen in my entire life. Technically it would be the fifth live linoone I had ever seen, but still. I sent another thanks to God and was about to take another step when I heard a little chirp in the trees to my right.

When I made the dumb mistake of looking at the source, I became absolutely horrified. Perched on a branch was a lone bird, a parrot, with a very distinctive set of head feathers. It looked straight at me without blinking and tilted its head to the right.

It slowly opened its mouth and I shook my head slowly to send the obvious message to shut up. Its eyes narrowed and it began nodding _its_ head in response. The little sentient fucker was mocking me. I shook my head faster mouthing "no" all the while. And then _that_ little guy nodded his head even faster and opening his mouth wider.

This guy wasn't going down easy, so I dropped my knife and put my hands up as a sign of peace, all the while still vigorously shaking my head left and right begging this parrot to let me have this. Thankfully, he closed his mouth and gave a single nod in respect for me. I breathed a sigh of relief and then jumped when I heard, loud and clear, a very long and high-pitched "HUMAN" from the parrot.

Scared from the shock, I reflexively fired an aura sphere in its direction to which it cawed and flew away.

It was done. My hunt was over. All for naught. I slowly turned my head in the direction of the badger to find it… still sleeping. I don't know if I should feel glad or condescending. I also don't know if I should kill it because I want food or because this guy was too lazy for it to deserve life.

Regardless, I exhaled greatly in relief. And this, my friends, is why you keep your bearing even when things are going well. Because that exhale, of all the noises that were made in the last two minutes, was the reason that the linoone snapped awake and stared me down.

"Uhhh… Hi?" I said awkwardly. Oh well; woe is me right?

Linoone started growling viciously at me and prepared to jump when suddenly, the sound and feeling of shaking trees spooked it. If it wasn't so fast in running into the forest, I might have actually hit it with an orb.

Actually it wouldn't help now that I think about it. The loud booms of giant footsteps and shaking earth sent me back in time – figuratively – during a deployment of mine. It was brief, but it was enough to drain me of my focus on the linoone. After realizing what it was, I became furious.

"…Goose fraba… Goooooooose fraba…" I said slowly. My face twitched when the shaking came closer to my position and the sound of rustling leaves made it evident what this was.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" I yelled at a tropius that walked onto the scene. The wrinkly brontosaurus stared at me while it lazily chewed the large leaves in its mouth. "You couldn't just eat somewhere else you fat piece of shit?! You just chased away my dinner!"

Tropius gulped his meal and shook his head like a wet dog would, dropping a few bananas and mangos from his neck. Bending over to inspect the fruit, I found them in the ripest time to consume. The long-necked quadruped elicited a low grumble and lugged onwards ignoring me once again.

"Hey! You still owe me for scaring off that linoone!"

I wasn't sure if he did this in response or it just happened, but the brontosaurus, just 5 feet after passing me, released a long and brassy line of gas from his bowels. Even knowing that a tropius' farts smell like smoothies, I still gagged when the scent entered my nostrils.

With a silent "fuck you," I picked up the fruit, left the premises, and headed back to camp where Victoria was probably waiting, in her proper sitting form, to ridicule me the second I got back.

"22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27…"

 **"** **Do you humans really believe physically improving yourself is a plausible punishment?"** Her majesty asked.

"32. Trust me; shit like this can get really gay if it happens all the time… 38. 39…"

 **"** **And what exactly do you mean by that word, 'gay?' I'm detecting a bit of resentment from its connotation to you."**

"43. 44. 45. Sorry I was counting too loud… 49. 50. What was your question?"

 **"** **It's irrelevant at this point. So if this is considered punishment, what do you humans do for pleasure and leisure?"**

"Couldn't you have learned that from Arn? 61. 62…"

 **"** **Well considering your history, I would say you are a different case from him. How many did you say you would do? 200?"**

"My ass I would! 71. 72. I said 100 push-ups for one badger!"

 **"** **Again with the unfamiliar terminology. Badger?"**

"Get used to it princess. 77. 78. 79…"

 **"** **I remembered Arn telling you that my name was Victoria?"** she asked with annoyance.

"83. Yeah, and 'Victoria' is the name of a queen in my world. So like I said, 'get used to it princess.' 89. 90 – WOO TEN MORE YEAH!" I shouted with rage as Victoria jumped.

 **"** **Tch, humans,"** she scorned.

I completed my hundred and washed myself in the nearby creek before I tended to dinner chow. As I scrubbed myself, my thoughts drifted back to the voice I heard several days ago. I wondered what it was and its origin if it had any. I thought of what it said about acting in my best interest. Perhaps it was trying to protect me.

Maybe it considered me an ally.

Maybe it considered me a vessel.

 **"** **Guardian!"** Absol yelled from across the way grasping my attention. **"I ask that you not pace yourself too much. I am in desperate need of food."**

"You know I considered you to be sophisticated up until you said 'food,'" I commented.

 **"** **I am hungry, so hurry yourself,"** she ended as she walked away as gracefully as ever. I shook my head and chuckled before finishing up.

The princess sat with patience as I slow roasted all five linoone carcasses over the fire rotisserie-style. As I did so, I couldn't help but stare into the flames that cooked our dinner. Something about fire eating away at a source of fuel always captivates me somehow in a way that makes me wonder – which, yes, I have been doing a lot of recently.

Victoria, on the other hand, decided to clean her white coat of its grime. The way she did so reminded me of a cat, though how she was biologically built did not suit that trait. She cleaned her back and body before moving on to her limbs and underside. I would ask how she cleaned her head and horn, but she was a step ahead of me. She thoroughly licked the pads of her forepaw and vigorously wiped the mane growing on her head like a dog would.

That only left her horn and tail unclean. But surprisingly enough, they were already slick and shined as is… Almost like they were designed to stay that way.

A low grumble from my stomach broke our silence and she found me staring at her self-care.

 **"** **Is there a reason you stare, Guardian?"** she asked while she continued.

"Just wondering how you keep your horn and tail clean," I said while I unconsciously moved my left hand over my right one to feel the new flesh. She noticed.

 **"** **It does not require cleaning. The horns of us absol never gain filth in any conditions… How is your hand?"**

"Well it stopped hurting this morning, but for some reason the scar is still there. No matter how much of my aura I flow into it, it still remains," I told her with my brow furrowed.

 **"** **Well, as much as I hate to admit it, that is a subject I have no knowledge about."**

I laughed, "It's alright, I don't mind it…"

 **"** **But let it service you as a reminder that-"**

"Oh Jesus Christ, I _know!_ I get it: 'Do not strike you on thy head. Lest I attain the curse of the princess.'" She giggled at the way I imitated her accent and proper use of dialogue.

 _"_ **I do not sound like that,"** She replied.

"Well unfortunately for me, Tor, _you do!"_ We both laughed and I took the linoone off the fire for the final preparation. I cut and stripped carefully to avoid mixing the bone with the meat while Victoria nonchalantly bit one badger off the table to bring it to her sitting spot.

"Hey, I'm not done filleting that!" I snapped only to be ignored. Whatever. I blew it off and continued my work of making badger stew. I uprooted a couple of wild oddish the size of basketballs before I arrived back at the sight from my failure and now was the time to prepare them.

The anatomy of oddish was quite strange. They had no skin or muscles; just a thick membrane that was flexible like rubber when it was alive. When dead, it was rough like a carrot. They had no internal organs like a regular animal would. The only thing they had similar to an animal was a mouth and eyes. However, the mouth led to a dead-end pit in the center of its body and the eyes did not connect to a regular brain. Rather, they were connected to roots that originated from the plant upon its head. In the center of the green leaves was a small, green bulb that I assumed was the thought-process center of it.

I chopped both of the oddish up into bite-sized squares, to serve as the meat and potatoes, and placed them into a bowl of already boiling water to dilute the poison they held inside of them. Thankfully, doing so was not a long process. In five minutes, they were as red as a cooked lobster; Victoria told me that this was the way to tell if the toxins had been completely expelled.

I drained out the poison-water from the batch and rinsed the beats with fresher, cleaner water to wash off the leftover residue. By this point, the badger meat inside a mix of chople juice and tomoto extract was simmering on top of the embers of the late fire.

I added in the once-sentient beats and mixed it together to produce a mouth-watering aroma that was irresistible. I split the dish in two for Victoria and I, placing Victoria's near the carcass she picked off of. I returned to me log-seat and began chowing down.

It was spicy like Tapatio, yet it had this Italian sense to it that I couldn't pick up. Regardless; it was very good. A little too good for not having cooked in a while.

 **"** **I like it…"** The princess commented while she ate. Honestly, there's not much that feels better than someone saying they truly like something you've created. Needless to say, my pride went up…

 **"** **The dish you prepared is alright as well…"**

Aaaand it's gone.

"So what the fuck were you just talking about then?!" I asked her.

 **"** **The atmosphere. It's pleasant?"**

Ah the mood-setting time of our relationship. As a small joke I feigned ignorance on the subject.

"Really? It's a little too humid for my liking. But that's just my opinion."

 **"** **I was not referring to the weather you ditz! I was talking about the atmosphere between the two of us,"** she corrected rather sternly.

"Relax I was kidding. What about the atmosphere? It's kind of quiet," I tried reminding her.

 **"** **Well it was. But that is okay with me. For the past three days there has been nothing ill-omened in our interaction with each other. Everything was either amusing or filled with knowledge. As for just a moment ago, there was nothing that needed to be said. Conversation wasn't forced and silence gave us a pleasant break to concentrate on our own thoughts. As for now, we are speaking with a purpose."**

"You know, for an animal, you're kinda deep when you talk," I said with a laugh. I was honest; I kinda liked that about her. She was cool and collect, and she spoke about things that were true. She didn't sugarcoat, though her insults were a little harsh, and she was honest with both herself and me.

It was all too familiar.

"I guess…" I mumbled quietly.

 **"** **What was that?"**

"Nothing," I waved off. True to her name, she reminded me of an old friend I had. Someone I enjoyed to spend time with back on Earth. Perhaps the only person I missed dearly from that wretched world I came from.

Someone that fell victim to its cruelty in a similar way that I did.

 **"** **I am also fond of your pet name for me. 'Tor,' was it?"**

"You don't mind me calling you that? I don't want to 'disrespect' what Arn has been calling you," I said swallowing a big chunk of linoone meat. I didn't really care if I disrespected someone. It's just more troublesome if the "victim" takes half an hour out of their time and my patience to correct me.

 **"** **I'm positive that neither of us really care for a matter of respect. I care for Arn, but I don't care for my formal title as long as it is not meant to insult me."**

"Wow. Deep and has common sense. You, Tor, are a very good friend to have," I complimented. But then I thought for a second, "Wait a minute, didn't you ask me not to call you 'Princess' earlier?

 **"** **Your intent was to insult, not to refer to myself."**

"Whatever," I finished with a sigh.

After finishing my meal, I noticed that dusk had come, and it was time to bed down. I took the used dishes to the creek and washed them clean to the best of my ability. I doused the fire and prepared myself to sleep, giving Tor a "goodnight" before laying down on the damp ground. The only thing separating me from it was a simple all-weather sleeping bag that was too warm to use.

Ever since I left, and I don't know how or why, I feel like I've been questioning everything about my life. It specifically happened only when I went to bed. The first day we were out here, I felt insane and lost in the possibility of having a nightmare at the time.

The only thing that snapped me out of that mindset was the cut on my hand left from Victoria's blade. It confirmed that I was awake, alive, and conscious.

In addition, at the time I began to question my emotions. I was getting softer, weaker, and more of a pushover, but I could do nothing of it. I wondered if I had spent a little too much time with Melanie. I wondered if it had something to do with those nightmares. I wondered if it had to do with my aura.

Of course it had to be _that._ Everything always comes down to 'aura this' or 'aura that'. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I felt like fucking a large snake because of my aura… not that I would ever do that.

Though I tried not to, my mind drifted back to that girl I knew. I reminisced on the memories we had together.

And as the sky darkened further into the night calling forth constellations abroad, I swam towards the light of the past underneath my eyelids…

…into a reality that once was, but can never be again.

* * *

 **[December 15, 2003]**

 **{3** **rd** **Person}**

Michael sighed quietly as he stood outside of those school gates. To him, it felt like it's been a lifetime since he's been there. A three-month long trial of suspension, medical testing, and mental suffering drained him of his energy. But he had to return according to his mother.

He sighed again and watched as his breathe flew into the cold air in a fog, the only sign of winter in Arizona. With a deep breath and mustered courage, he trudged onward to the horror known as "school."

He watched the upperclassmen as they joked around during the last winter they had in elementary school. None of them knew who he was or what he had done. Michael marched forward.

He found the younger generation of the middle schoolers playing in the playground, enjoying their youth while it lasted. Michael only wished he was that happy, or maybe just happy enough. Either way, those kids were lucky, and Michael had experienced in his young life about enough to know that they were. Michael marched forward.

Ah, finally. Here he was with his own grade. He recognized most of them instantly, and the same vice versa. The atmosphere grew quiet upon his arrival in their general area. None of them saw what had happened, only heard rumors. Save for four of them. But those rumors were enough to shatter Michael's motivations for his return.

"Is it already the fifteenth?"

"I thought he was arrested…"

"Didn't he almost kill Gentry?"

"He seems dangerous…"

"Hey, it's the dude who beat up the bullies…"

"I hope he doesn't come near me."

Every murmur rung throughout Michael's ears like a church bell. To him, it didn't matter what they said or how they said it. He knew what he did was bad. Reminding him of the incident only through salt in the wounds.

Before the tears came out, he picked up his pace and ran to his classroom where he promptly sat on his seat and stuffed his head in his arms.

As he sniveled, another presence in the room stared at him with worry. She clutched her jacket feeling sorry for him and stood up from her own seat grabbing the bag she brought specially for this day only.

Every step she took her heart beat faster and louder. How Michael didn't hear the loud thumps was a mystery to her. But she continued until she stood right next to Michael's chair.

"…Michael?" She asked warily. Slowly but surely, he lifted his head up and turned to see the person that would insult him next.

But instead, he was filled with surprise when he saw Vitoria Diaz standing tall before him wearing a cute, pink sweater. Well, he probably didn't realize it was cute with his adolescence, but with time he would come to understand and appreciate.

As for now, memories of her appearance in the incident forced him to try to back away only to fall out of his seat and become still with regret and fear.

Victoria couldn't help but laugh modestly at his situation, though he took it childishly as an insult.

"It's not funny," he snapped.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she admitted honestly trying to hold back the giggles.

"What do you want?" Michael asked as he sat back down in his chair.

"Well, I missed your birthday so I wanted to get you this," she said with flushed cheeks. In front of her she held out a blue bag with white tissue paper inside concealing the gift. Michael's cheeks flushed similarly while he reached out to the bag.

The moment he had a good grip on it, Victoria let go and flashed outside of the classroom only ushering a small "thanks" before the door shut leaving him alone with his thoughts and this present…

"Ahem…" Ms. Diana beckoned with a knowing smile, "Good morning Michael. I'm glad to have you back."

…And apparently the teacher as well. But more importantly, Michael wondered what she meant by "thanks?"

[…]

 **[Spring 2009]**

"Ugh… never… again…"

"I thought you said it would be nothing?"

"Give a girl a break would ya"

"Not my fault you have a weak stomach."

With that statement said, Victoria gave her friend of five years a good punch to the gut.

"Who's the one with the weak stomach now Mikey?" she taunted.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" Michael complained while clutching his stomach from the surprisingly good strike.

"Yeah… but you were asking for it. Let's go on that one next!" Victoria exclaimed pointing to the tower-like thrill-ride.

Today was the annual field trip for all seventh graders at Desert Horizon Elementary. For the last six years, those in the grade with decent marks were allowed to take a trip to Castles 'n' Coasters for youthful fun. It was no surprise at all that Michael, an exemplar student with decent grades, and Victoria, a student with the top grades in the district, were authorized to go on this fun day.

"Jeez Tori, you almost barfed on everyone during the ride and you still want to go on _that?_ "

"Relax Julian. Tori's a big girl, she can handle herself pretty well. A lot better than you when you tried asking Savanna out," Crystal said with a small, jabbing giggle. She and Julian were the best friends of Victoria and Michael respectively. Crystal had known Victoria since childhood as a next door neighbor; their friendship had not once faltered and both had stuck together through thick and thin. Julian, on the other hand, became friends with Michael after he caught him playing Pokemon Emerald at the playground back in '05. He too was interested in the game series, and both played together for a few good years before their indulgence in the media faltered into the wind.

Altogether, the four of them formed a small, nameless group that promised loyalty to each other through all the hardships of life into adulthood itself. Long ago had it been forgotten of Michael's predicament in the second grade. No one dared to speak out even in simple reminiscence of the time. Not even the two that witnessed it firsthand.

Instead, they focused on making new memories that each could cherish for themselves. They created stories of life and wonder in their interactions that they would each laugh at if or when they met up later on in life.

It was your typical group of "lifelong" friends.

"I'm thirsty… I'm gonna go get a drink. Any of you guys coming with?" Michael asked them.

"No."

"Naw, I'm good."

"No, but thanks for asking."

With their curt responses, Michael left to find the convenience shop within the amusement park.

(…)

"Can I get a large Coke?" He asked holding out a five in his hand. As the cashier processed his order, he turned around to look at his friends waiting on him. Julian met his eyes with a grin and gave him the bird in a joking manner. Michael laughed softly and mouthed a curse at him before turning around and taking his drink from the woman.

"Thank you." The lady smiled and nodded before gesturing for the next customer. To Michael's surprise, the line had gotten significantly longer in the 20 seconds between looking at his friends and grabbing his Coke.

But what could he expect for a district-level field trip?

He weaved his way through the crowd until he could see the light that marked the end of the tunnel. Finally at the last stretch, he jumped outwards towards the light only to bump into a solid object. Both crashed into the ground with Michael savoring his drink. His unintentional victim, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky with hers.

"Shit, I'm so sorry!" Michael admitted with his hands outward to try and salvage the situation… like it could be in the first place.

But the moment the young girl turned to look at the face of her assailant, both of their eyes widened to take in what they saw.

Two strangers that met by an uncertain circumstance that would outline the rest of their lives. Was this what they called "fate?"

Michael never really believed in love at first sight, but perhaps he was led astray somewhere down the line. In front of him was a girl so simple, yet stunning, it would take a miracle to take back the intense pulse running through his heart… and consequently, penis.

She had light-brunette hair with golden highlights and she was of a pale complexion that made her appear ill. She donned a pair of simple glasses that complemented her baby blue eyes. She wore a light, white jacket with bedazzled lettering on the front that spelled out… something. Something that Michael couldn't really understand. Nor could anyone at the park.

"baka…" the girl mumbeled.

"What?" Michael asked, his confusion bringing him out of his trance-like state. The girl looked away at the spilled soda. Seeing this, Michael frantically thought of ideas on how to save the moment until he looked at the cup in his hands.

"Do you want this instead? I didn't drink out of it." The girl looked at him warily.

"Umm… sure," she said with hesitation before standing up with Michael. The lad handed the lady his cup and shoved his hands in his pocket.

"Yeah, I'm sorry that I bumped into you. This place is just so damned crowded that it's hard to see or move."

"Mhm tell me about it," she giggled.

"You here with family?" Michael asked, not wanting to make the situation awkward by mentioning this was a field trip. Way to go Manly-Man.

"No, the same as you: field trip."

'Damn! She called my bluff!' Michael thought in his head. The expression he wore was evident and the girl laughed cutely.

"Hehe, yeah. What School?"

"Desert Mirage. And I'm guessing you're from Desert Horizon?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"The nametag?" She said with a raised eyebrow. Needless to say, Michael felt like a fool, but still entertained by the small talk.

"Oh right, hehe. Anyways… What's your name?"

"Cynthia. Cynthia Rubio. And yours?"

"Michael Blake. Nice to meet ya," he said holding out his hand to shake hers. She took it with another giggle and the two laughed even more.

(…)

"What's taking him so long?" Crystal complained as she kicked her feet outwards from her chair.

"I don't know, there's too many people to get a good eye on him," informed Julian while he cupped his hands to his eyes like a set of binoculars. This earned him a slight smack in the back of the head from Victoria.

"Please don't embarrass us while we're waiting for him."

"I'm just trying to see if these things work," he reasoned.

"Let me give it to you straight, Juliet, those things work as well as your pick-up lines with Sav-" Crystal tried to jab, but Julian had heard enough.

"AAGH! Don't remind me!" he shouted now cupping his hands to his ears. The two girls laughed at his pain.

"Wait, is that him over there?" Crystal asked to the group. "Who is that with him?"

Julian looked to where she was pointing and a proud smile made its way to his face.

(…)

"So… do you have a cell phone?" Michael asked holding his breath for the dare he just committed.

"That depends on why you wannna know," Cynthia replied with a knowing smile, "You want my number?"

"Oh, well I just wanted to know but if I mean _you_ wanted to give me the number then that's alright. If you want," he let out with adrenaline pumping like diesel in a jet.

"I don't know…" she said tapping her chin with her finger, "Alright. But only if you can catch me." She said before wrapping her small lips around the straw and sipping the Coke in a way that would make a boy in the middle of puberty melt away just by looking at her eyes in this picture.

Michael looked to his friends who all were watching the exchange. Julian was giving a slow clap while whistling for his friend. Crystal and Victoria were just ogling at the adorable way Michael might have found his first girlfriend.

Though, Crystal's reaction was a little more earnest than Victoria's. As Michael took off to chase the new girl, Victoria couldn't help but feel a small but heavy thump in the bottom of her chest.

'Probably the ride,' she tried reasoning with herself. And for the rest of the day, she felt the continuous heavy beating of her hear until she fell asleep.

* * *

 **[Present (R. 121 Day 5)]**

 **{Michael's POV}**

"YES! THAT MAKES THREE!" I shouted the moment I witnessed an aura leave the body of a linoone. It's been two days since Victoria and I had our bonding session over a meal; ultimately, this had led to a closer relationship with each other.

 **"** **Congratulations Guardian. After 13 hours, you've finally come over halfway of your quota. You must be really proud,"** said a monotone Victoria.

"Wow! Sarcastic too? I really am taking a toll on you aren't I"

 **"** **Only because you're incompetent…"** Victoria swung her head towards my left and decapitated another linoone. **"Do not worry though, I will get you to be perfect someday."**

"Don't get your hopes up, Princess of Snobs," I said expanding my aura to my surroundings.

 **"** **Exactly who was that supposed to insult?"**

"…"

 **"** **What's wrong?"** She asked putting herself on guard from my silence.

 _"_ _Someone's watching us…"_ I told her through telepathy, _"Can you see it through my sight?"_ She closed her eyes and I felt her watching whatever it was I was picking up. It was something I learnt yesterday when I tracked down a zigzagoon.

 _"_ _Yes. I assume you want to use my delayed strike?"_ she suggested.

 _"_ _If by 'delayed strike,' you mean 'future sight,' then yes,"_ I transmitted with an audible sigh. Her glowed brightly signaling the commencement of the attack.

 _"_ _By the way, didn't I say not to call me 'Princess?' The least you could do is call me by my so-called 'nickname.'"_

 _"_ _You got a point there. It's a hell of a lot better than what I called you in that dream,"_ I said with a facepalm from my stupidity back then. _"And speaking of calling each other who and what, what's with your strange naming skills? 'Gifted Vision' in the dream, 'delayed strike' just now? You gotta work on that."_

 _"_ _I will refer to maneuvers and objects as I see best fitting. Furthermore, why did you call me 'Astraea' again?"_

 _"_ _That's a long story."_

 _"_ _I just sent a 'future sight.' We have a little bit of time."_

 _"_ _Alright. You asked…"_

* * *

 **[Spring 2010]**

 **{3** **rd** **Person}**

"Alright Mom, I'm headed to Cynthia's house!" Michael called throughout the house from the front door.

"Wait!" his mother, Dawn, replied. Michael groaned in annoyance knowing what was about to happen. "Wow! Look at you!" His mother squealed seeing him all gussied up for a visit to his girlfriend of 5 months.

"Aww Mom, do you really have to embarrass me?" he complained. Dawn looked around.

"Who's here to listen? Besides; you look so handsome!"

"I know. Can I just go already?"

"Hey don't be rude. Just be lucky I'm allowing you to have a girlfriend at this age. I didn't start dating until-"

"High school. Yeah. I know. You only told me like… six times," he whispered loud enough for his mom to hear.

"Really? I thought it was five?"

"This makes six."

"Well anyways, I just want to admire my son growing up so fast. Is that so bad?" she asked as she stepped forward to give her youngest child a hug.

"No… it's not. But there's two of us. Can you at least bug the other one?" He suggested wittily while he reciprocated her hug.

"He's on his fourth girlfriend. What's there left to bug or remind him about?"

"The fact that he's had three girlfriends in a year and a half? The fact that he broke up with all of them within three months?" Michael reminded while separating himself from his mother.

"Hmmm. Good point. Alright then I'll let you go," Dawn said with a laugh.

"Finally!" Michael groaned. He waved goodbye to his mother and left through the door.

'You owe me one for not telling her you've had six girlfriends,' he thought, 'and that they all broke up with you for being a dick.' He shook his head to get his head out of those thoughts. He only had one to think about right now.

Cynthia Rubio. Every time he thought of her butterflies fluttered around in his stomach. She was beautiful, smart, and nice to just about anything and anyone.

Though, Michael had to admit, she did have some flaws. She was a geek for one. She loved to play videogames and was a big fan of Nintendo. And Michael always found her mumbling strange words and phrases that she wouldn't explain in detail; save for the fact that they all apparently came from the games she played.

Michael, on the other hand, has long forgotten about the pleasures of Pokemon and other "childish" games and TV shows. At the time, he was interested in sports and action movies. He was quite the athletic figure to some and was planning on joining his future high school's wrestling team.

There was also his other interest: military. He hasn't forgotten the day that a foreign enemy attacked US soil and murdered his father. That was, to him, an unlimited supply of fuel to an everlasting fire of rage and despair.

But for now, he was focused on making another memory with his favorite girl in the world.

(…)

"Hey Baby!" Cynthia squealed when she opened up the door to see her boyfriend. The two hugged before heading inside.

"You sure they're not here?" Michael asked warily referring to her parents which, at the time, were out on a date. Both wouldn't be back until 10 O'clock that night which gave the young couple time to relax and enjoy each other's company.

"Yeah I'm sure. You want some homemade tea?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'd love some," Michael said with a smile, something that took years to grow back.

"Okay just a sec."

Cynthia prepared tea for the two of them and both sat on the living room couch to watch TV.

"Netflix?" Cynthia suggested.

"Whatever you want," Michael said.

"Really?" She replied with a hint of doubt.

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

"You won't judge me?" She asked, giving Michael an impending sense of… something.

"Why? Are we watching porn?" he joked.

"Haha no we're not watching porn sick-o… Alright just give me a second" With that, Michael looked away jokingly for a surprise effect. Cynthia clicked away on her Wii remote for a few minutes and tapped Michael on the shoulder when she was ready.

"You all good?" Michael jested.

"Yes I am babe. Alright don't judge me," she said as she laid her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.

Michael laughed, "What is there to judge you abo…" He stopped abruptly when he looked at the TV screen.

On the tele showed a vast field of green grass waving back and forth through the wind. Only it wasn't a picture taken from camera footage… This was animation of only one kind that really anybody could guess from a single glance: anime.

The narrator, the voice of a teenage Japanese man, rambled on about something from a dream with very much needed subtitles at the bottom. Before a lone character, presumably the narrator and most likely the main character, a supposedly gorgeous angel hovered with wings as bright as light.

Michael followed the subtitles carefully and, in his head, thought that this might be a good show. He had heard about Anime from friends and the internet alike, but only rumors suggesting their taboo themes like porn, incest, blasphemy, and sometimes all three. But he figured to give it a shot for his girlfriend.

The scene cut to black with a white-haired gentlemen holding...

'A doll?' Michael thought, 'As his assistant? Alright let's forget that… alright so this is a sort of scientific or knowledgeable show. This might actually be good. Those rumors probably won't be true in this-Oh my God what the fuck is he doing with that doll?!' Michael's face was that of pure confusion and awkwardness. He contemplated staring at his girl to ask why they were watching something that was this weird in the beginning. But the fact that it was only the beginning prompted some sense of patience in him. He decided to wait it out and watch the episode to get a good grasp on what Cynthia liked.

* * *

 **[Present (R.121 Day 5)]**

 **{Michael's POV}**

 _"_ _What happened afterwords?"_ Victoria asked. Before I opened my mouth to respond, a series of crashes into the ground sounding like rustling leaves echoed throughout the forest. The sound of rattling, creaking wood mixed in with the crashing gave us notice to a possible pokemon in the area.

When I used my aura to scan the surroundings and locate the stalker, I was surprised to find that it was heading in my direction rather than running away. I also picked up a great deal of fear from the small creature as it came closer. The sound of rattling wood increased in volume as it approached closer and closer until it came within visual range.

Seedot. Its name was perfectly clear in my memory; as clear as the image it upheld. The little guy was about a foot and a half high excluding the tip its stem. The 'cap' it wore, as well as its main body, was definitely the same texture as that of an acorn. It wore a mask of yellow with black and yellow eyes. It hopped as fast as it could on the small feet it could towards the two of us.

The sight of its vulnerability definitely eased any sense of worry between Victoria and I. We both lowered our guard, but Victoria hopped in front of me cutting me off from the seedot. Upon seeing it stop, both in movement and its wooden cry, I assumed that I was definitely its destination.

After a short pause, it began wiggling the top of its cap producing that rattling-wood sound we heard. I could tell easily that it was trying to communicate.

"What's it saying?" I ask while keeping my senses peeled for signs of more pokemon.

 **"** **It's saying something about meeting an aura guardian. You I suppose?"** She asked uncertain.

"Can't you understand what another pokemon is saying?"

 **"** **Forgive me of my incompetence, but I was not raised to understand the speech patterns of** ** _Botans._** **Only a basic grasp of understanding between all us 'pokemon' is written in our genetic code,"** she said with a snarky fashion.

"Okay I'll assume you meant _grass-types,_ but for the sake of my education could you PLEASE dumb it down?" Victoria turned around to stare at me with discontent.

 **"** **I don't speak the language of botans, but I can pick up a few fragments."**

"Much better," I said before the seedot began rattling its cap again. Victoria immediately began her attempt to translate.

 **"** **It is still talking about you. Something about…"** She paused.

 **"…** **I think it wants a connection."**

A connection? _This little guy_ wants a connection with _me_?

I was done with complex translations for the time being. It was time for 'yes or no' questions. I moved in front of Victoria and knelt down before the enlarged acorn. It visibly cowered, but I put my hand out to signal it was okay. It was wary, but it seemed to trust me.

"I want you to hop once for 'yes', twice for 'no', and three times for 'I don't care' in case you need that answer. If you need more understanding, wiggle your cap. Did you understand that question?" I asked sternly. Immediately it hopped a single time.

"Good. You can tell I'm an aura guardian right?" One hop. "Did someone tell you I was an aura guardian?" Two hops. "Could you _feel_ I was an aura guardian?" One hop. "Are you alone?" One hop. "Are you sure?" Two hops. "You think you're alone but you can't be for sure?" One hop. "Are you saying that because you're generally unaware of your surroundings?" Two hops. "Do you think anything would be following you?" Two hops.

"Is it true that you want a connection?" One hop. "Is there a simple explanation for why?" Two hops.

"Are you sure you want a connection?" One hop. "Are you really sure?" One vigorous hop. "Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" Three hops.

I gave a small smile. Immediately afterwards I formed an aura sphere and fired it just centimeters away from his feet.

"Are you plain stupid?!" Seedot hopped twice as I continued shouting, "How reckless can you be?! This isn't some fucking fairy tale where things will be okay in the end! I can't just involve some impotent little shit in my life because they think it'll be cool! You're too weak! Too small! Too insignificant for what I need from something like you!"

My breath became heavy after yelling those words. Truthfully I wasn't trying to berate the little guy too much. Was its choice reckless? Yes. Did I need to call it weak? Not really. However, something the seedot did caught my eye.

Actually it was something he didn't do. When I shot the aura sphere, the little guy didn't budge a single bit. It just stood there looking at me with those big eyes. Up close, the 'mask' it wore was really just a giant visor – like the eyes of a dragonfly – with a black and yellow pattern magnifying what was underneath.

"You didn't move when I shot in your direction." I stated. Seedot jumped twice.

 **"** **Don't tell me you admire that,"** Victoria complained.

I didn't admire that.

"I LOVE that!" I exclaimed happily while picking the acorn up and tossing it into the air like a child. It rattled violently and began kicking its feet vigorously before landing one on my palm accidentally. I say accidentally only because I didn't intend for it to kick my hand down with intense power only to land several meters away from me shaking.

"I'm guessing you don't like being thrown?" I asked it with a chuckle. It hopped twice and rattled its dome.

 **"** **Yet you called** ** _it_** **reckless,"** Victoria droned. I looked at her with a deadpan expression.

"You know, no one _asked_ you to say anything." I turned to the seedot who hopped closer to the two of us. It looked like it was ready to receive the connection.

"Alright, just relax and open yourself to me."

I closed my eyes and focused on the aura around me. In the short time I sent with Victoria, reading the aura of my surrounding became a lot easier to manage albeit only standing it for a short time. All the life around me merged into a picture instead of coming at me altogether as separate entities.

Opening my eyes to the aura of the vicinity, the seedot's was a dark green that extended out to me in several tentacles like roots. I let my aura flow through a 'gate' in my chest. In making a connection, I learned that his method produced a stronger flow of aura than through my hands.

The blue and green auras touched just barely when lightning shapes of green surged through mine while blue through the seedot's.

The connection was complete.

 **"** **I give my thanks to you, Guardian,"** a deep, wise voice said resonating throughout my head. Realizing who said it, I had to take a step back. That little seed had a voice like _that?_ This little fucker was fit for a Velveeta Cheese commercial!

"Holy shit that's you?!" I asked incredulously.

 **"** **Indeed it is. Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Lucidia."**

"Well nice to meet you Luuuuuaah-I-I'll call you Luke. That sound good?" I asked awkwardly. A name like that did not befit a voice like his.

 **"** **It brings a pleasant ring to my senses. Thank you much."**

"Alright then. Nice to meet you Luke. The name's-"

 **"** **There is no need to give me your name Guardian. I am not worthy of calling my master of such a high position by his name,"** Luke said humbly. At the moment I wasn't sure if I needed to feel honored or embarrassed by that statement, but one thing was for certain.

"At least _he_ gets it," I said to Victoria.

 **"** **Like I said previously, I respect your position, but not you. Come now, dusk is upon us and I need to eat."** Before she could get a head start, Luke jumped in front of her. His cap rattled, but I only heard his deep voice.

 **"** **I ask that you refrain from speaking to our master in such a tone, Miss."** Victoria started to growl before speaking back.

 **"** **Be careful with your words,** ** _Botan._** **Recognize the power the grace in front of you holds,"** she spat. Her horn gave a weak pulse of light when she mentioned the word 'botan'.

 **"** **Now Miss, there is no need to throw around titles as insults. I assume we are both of age enough to be mature about the situation. I only ask that you give our master the respect he deserves."**

Both continued a deathly stare-down before I got between the two of them.

"Alright shitbags just calm down. Luke: respect her way of doing things. It may not look like it, but she's kinda smart and powerful. Victoria: just calm down. We'll all be eating soon so everyone just bear with each other until then."

The two continued to stare at each other until Victoria broke the silence while walking ahead, **"Be wary, Botan."**

Luke turned around to watch her leave and spoke, **"A pleasure to meet you, Victoria-san… Shall we go, Guardian?"**

"There's no reason not to," I explained as I followed Victoria back to the camp site. We walked a little farther away than usual today so getting back would take a while. On the way, I noticed that Luke never ceased to hop nor did he show any exhaustion in doing so. I kept an eye on him for twenty minutes until I just had to ask.

"Hey Luke, do you ever get tired from jumping that much?"

 **"** **Oh this is nothing for me. Us Nuzleaf are a proud race trained in endurance and forest proficiency. It would take a fortnight of continuous jumping for myself to become exhausted,"** he said proudly.

"Nuzleaf? I thought you were a seedot?" I asked him before I remembered one of my first conversations with Melanie, "Oh never mind I forgot that's what your overall species is called."

 **"** **Is that right?"** he inquired. **"I never really interacted with or near humans before, but I heard stories that they call us by our species name instead of our stages. You, on the other hand, behaved like it was uncommon knowledge."**

"Well… you're right and wrong. People would normally call you a Nuzleaf, but to put it simply: I'm not from here."

 **"** **If I may ask, Guardian, where are you from?"**

"Uggh!" I groaned. I just explained the whole deal to Victoria a few days ago, and I really didn't want to go through all the memories again.

 **"** **I apologize for asking you, Guardian. I will respect you-"**

"No it's not that. I already explained this story a couple of times and each time just brings back bad memories. I'll tell you in time, but that'll have to wait until we get to Fortree. Sound good?"

 **"** **As you wish, Guardian. As for your inquiry, we are all known as nuzleaf. It is true that I am in the 'seedot' phase, but my time for maturity is near. When that time comes, I will be known as a true Nuzleaf."**

"Don't you guys have a third stage? Like, do you evolve once again into a shiftry?"

Silence ensued for a couple of minutes.

 **"** **That position is granted to those nuzleaf that are worthy of leading our kind as a whole."**

"So kind of like a republic?"

 **"** **For the most part."**

"Interesting. Say, do you think you could evolve into a shiftry while traveling with me?"

 **"** **It's hard to say. The method in which the worthy are granted the status of Shiftry has been a closely-guarded secret for generations."**

I hummed in thought wondering if evolution stones had any significance here.

 **"** **By the way, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Victoria-san about one of your mates. If it's alright with you, I'd like to hear the rest of that tale."**

"Well…"

* * *

 **[Summer 2010]**

 **{3** **rd** **Person}**

"You what?!" Julain roared after hearing the news directly from Michael.

"Jeez will ya calm down? I just broke up with her. Is it that bad?" He asked harmlessly. Julian, on the other hand, didn't take it that way.

"Bad?! She was a total BABE! How the fuck could you dump someone like her? Especially someone a little higher than your level," he added with a whisper.

"Shut up Julian. Quit talking about women like they're objects," snapped Crystal. "Come on Tori, tell'em!" she said giving her best friend a nudge.

"What? Oh yeah take it down a notch Julia," she mumbled under heavy thought.

"IT'S JULI _AN!_ WITH AN _'N'_!" Michael's buddy barked making Victoria flinch.

All four stood outside of a movie theater when Michael decided to break the news to his friends. As Julain ranted on with his disagreement, people passing by looked at him with horror wondering how his parents could raise a child so obnoxious.

"Jesus, Julian, calm the fuck down! You're making a scene!" said a hushed Michael attempting to cover his friend's mouth with his hand.

"Mike, the only way I'll calm down is if you explain to me _why_ you broke up with a hot girl like that."

"Yeah Michael. She was pretty cute, why'd you dump her?" asked Crystal. Victoria stayed quiet in her train of thought which Michael noticed.

"Victoria?" he asked her. Her head rose up immediately, "You wanna hear this too?" Unable to speak for herself at the moment, she simply nodded her head.

"Alright. Well," Michael started hesitantly, not sure how to approach the subject clearly. "Well… I guess it's because… she's a nerd?"

"So? Tori's a nerd-OUCH!" Julian shouted when Victoria pinched his shoulder with the force of a lobster. "Wait, there's an explanation for this, Tori. Nerds are the kind of people that are really smart and intellectual. They have a future. 'Geeks', on the other hand, are passionate in their hobbies. See Tori? You're smart," he said harmlessly.

"Why thank you," she stated while giving an imaginary curtsy.

"Both are still losers," he mumbled just loud enough for Crystal to pick up. She properly twisted his ear like a mother would a child while Michael attempted to continue.

"Actually, he sort-of has a point. She was a geek in the sense that… that she loves anime," he released with a scrunched face unable to still process that fact.

"Wait, you broke up with her because of _that_?" Crystal asked him as if it was a trivial mistake.

"Hell yeah! I'm not sticking around with someone that likes that kind of shit. For example, the first episode she showed me had a grown man playing with a model doll like a pervert. I'm telling you, the Japanese are weird," Michael said with a sigh.

"I guess it's a little unorthodox, but that's no reason to blame a genre or whole country like that," Crystal argued.

"Are you telling me that _you_ like that kind of stuff?" Michael suggested.

"Hell no, but it's not like their whole culture is based around that."

"What would we know? We're thousands of miles away from them anyways," Julian interjected. "It's not like we should care. Besides, they've created some pretty amazing stuff."

"Like what?" Michael challenged.

"Nintendo?"

"That's just a company for kids' games," Michael refuted.

"They're still pretty popular-"

"Don't change the subject; I broke up with her because I didn't like what she liked. Is that such a big fucking deal?! I made a choice and now I'm sticking with it! Can't you respect that?!"

"It's alright, Michael," Victoria spoke up. "It's your decision so you can live with it," she said calmly in reaffirmation of his choice.

"Well, I can't go against my BFF," Crystal said giving Victoria a big hug from the back.

"I guess so, but she was still kinda hot," Julian argued.

"Even piss could taste good when you're stranded in the desert for a week," Crystal mentioned.

"EW!" Victoria exclaimed while getting out of her friend's bear hug.  
"You like Bear Grylls too much," Julian commented.  
"What are you trying to say there?!" Michael challenged.

"Nothing, Mikey, just helping your point," Crystal reasoned with a smile. Without time to prepare himself, Michael had been hugged from the side by Crystal. "Is the big, bad Michael sad over a break-up?" she said with puppy-dog eyes while petting his head.

While Julian caught sight of a stunning woman walking by, Victoria felt a heavy pump in the bottom of her chest. It was the same feeling she had when Michael first met Cynthia, only heavier – and more defined. She knew what it was, but she kept to herself about it.

Michael, on the other hand, was savoring the feel of Crystal's breasts on his arm. "Uh… What?" he asked disoriented.

"Come on, let's go watch the movie. I'm sure it'll make you feel better."

"Oh yeah I forgot about that!" Michael admitted.

All four friends walked inside the main lobby purchasing their tickets and snacks at the concessions. While the others walked on line with each other, Victoria kept her distance a step or two back.

'Michael…' she thought endlessly as they journeyed their way to the theater room. The moment they reached the end of the ramp and turned to see the audience, the three friends in front gasped at the size.

Thanks to Julian's wits and skill, they all found four empty seats right next to each other in the middle of the audience. Victoria continued to drag herself alongside her friends.

"Yay! Side seat! Mike, sit next to me," Julian whispered just loud enough for someone to tell him to stay quiet. Michael complied and sat next to his bro on his right with Crystal to his left. Victoria was left with the seat to the left of her gal friend and all four friends made it in time for the actual feature to start.

She tried as best as she could to follow along the plotline, but she just couldn't focus with Michael on her mind. Every now and then, she would glance towards her friends and witness Crystal leaning towards Michael. It wasn't too much a bad thing, but it left Victoria feeling somewhat empty.

No one could really blame the two for being so close, but to her it felt like they were abandoning her. Her long-time friend, Crystal – who usually clings to her during a movie – now leans the opposite direction towards the friend she understood more than anyone: Michael. He was only a seat away – a few feet away – but to her, the distance between them had never felt so large. She felt like they were separated by a forever-run-down bridge.

She hated that feeling. She abhorred it with such a passion that she found herself shaking in rage during one scene. She caught herself before anyone noticed, but it wouldn't matter – no one sitting next to her could feel her.

No one sitting next to her could or would notice. She hated that too. She hated how her friend of nine years took away her opportunity without even noticing or thinking about it. She felt hatred of a new level towards Crystal, but perhaps that was her fault for not stating her intentions sooner. She couldn't blame her friend.

She could only blame herself. She hated herself. She hated herself for not taking that chance sooner. She hated herself for feeling such animosity toward her friend. She herself for being selfish.

She didn't like any of it. At the time of Michael's announcement of his break-up, she was too focused on finding a way to comfort him or to make him notice her as someone that could always be there for him.

What could she do but drown in her own self-pity.

Near the end of the movie, a couple of tears escaped her eyes. The man to her left noticed and shifted away from her, but she didn't care. He wasn't the one she wanted to notice her.

'Michael…' she thought endlessly.

* * *

 **[Present (R.121 Day 5)]**

 **{Michael's POV}**

 **"** **Just one question,"** Luke spoke after hearing my reasoning for my first break-up.

"Shoot."

 **"** **Thank you, Guardian. What exactly** ** _is_** **anime?"** After hearing his question, I took a short halt. It wasn't long enough for me to stop following Victoria completely, but it wasn't short enough too not be noticed. **"Is something the matter?"**

"No it's alright. You just caught me off guard. Anime is – how to put it – I guess a medium for entertainment on television. Back then, I didn't really know, care, or think too much about it. I just saw it as a disgusting and perverted genre. I guess now I know it's not all of those things. There are some good decent-quality anime shows out there, but a good majority of them are just sick."

 **"** **How so?"**

"Are you familiar with the concept of television?"

 **"** **I've heard that term once or twice in my life."** I sighed – he didn't know what TV was. It'd be pointless to describe to him every fucking detail of TV. Well not pointless, but just too much work.

"Alright, I'll tell you more about it when we get to Fortree and they got an inn with TV."

 **"** **Splendid idea, Guardian."**

As we continued to walk, I let my mind wander back to those times when everything was easier. I thought of the days after I got into high school and was reminded of another old flame of mine.

As I walked, I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply as those images came back to me.

Images of lost time and effort.

* * *

 **[Autumn 2010]**

 **{3** **rd** **Person}**

"You fucking done yet?" complained a 16-year-old Matthew Blake to his younger brother. Michael had been occupying the bathroom in their house for the last 30 minutes in an attempt to get ready for the homecoming dance.

"Watch your mouth!" Dawn, their mother, called from down the hall.

"Yeah Matt, watch your mouth. And just give me another minute I'm tryin' to get this damned tie on," Michael complained from behind the door.

"You've been putting that tie on for the last 15 minutes! I need to get ready too."

"Don't you have your own mirror?"

"Don't you have a life?" Michael gave a prideful laugh from the other side.

"HA! At least I got a date!"

"Oh please, I can get a girl in the middle of the dance."

"Then you can put a tie on in the middle off the hall!"

Check.

"Just be done in 10 minutes or I'm leaving without you!" Matthew ended with a bang on the door.

On the other side was Michael in his black slacks, nice shoes, and a satin-red collared shirt. His hair was in its usual semi-messy appearance, he showered twice that day, shaved, applied deodorant, a little cologne, and brushed his teeth four times. However, for the life of him he could not figure out his tie.

*knock*

"Yeah?" Michael answered.

"Michael do you need help with your tie?" asked his mother.

Michael considered two options and the paths they lead to. He could savor his pride, turn down her offer, and possibly miss the dance – or he could accept the help, get the 'you're growing up so fast' speech, and meet his date and friends at the dance.

'1 or 2. 1 or 2. 1 or 2…' he thought.

"Yeah I need help," he confessed while unlocking the door. Slowly, his mother opened the door and set her eyes on him.

"Oooooh you look so handsome!" she said in attempt to compliment, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

"Just help me with my tie," Michael urged.

"Alright I'm sorry," Dawn began as she arranged his tie properly, "But you got to let me enjoy this while I can. I won't have you around for too much longer now you're in high school."

"I know Mom. You told me that before."

"It still applies," she tried to argue. When she looked at her son's 'do we really need to do this again' face, she snickered a little eliciting a short chuckle from Michael.

In just 60 seconds, Michael's outfit was complete. The crimson and silver striped tie complimented his shirt perfectly – another accomplishment on Dawn's part.

"Alright thanks Mom," he said quickly and gave her a short hug. The young man met his brother out in the car and the two made their way to the school listening to the late-night radio along the way. While Matthew was confident about going, Michael was feeling a little uneasy. Not only was this his first dance as a high school student, but this was his first dance with a _date._

It wasn't a traditional date where he would drive to her house and pick her up, but they agreed on going to the dance 'together'. Counting the days going by, Michael wondered what kind of dress she would wear, and if he would be a good enough dancer by then.

The thought was something to pass the time, and that time ran out quickly.

The two brothers found themselves walking through the front gate towards the cafenasium (cafeteria/gymnasium) silently. Both had their own groups of friends to be with so they each hurried to find them.

Right outside of the cafenasium were Michael's longtime friends and, more importantly, his date: Crystal.

She wore an elegant, white dress that ended a little above her knees allowing Michael to view her small, smooth legs. The top of the dress had a floral design leaving out some fabric so her light-brown skin could be somewhat visible. Everything just above her breasts and below was made of the same design on top of a satin-white base. Her heels matched the dress perfectly in Michael's eyes, but that wasn't the highlight of her appearance that night.

To Michael, his date could be wearing just about anything and her face would still make her beautiful. She had applied just the right amount of makeup to enhance her beauty instead of piling on top of her face. Her auburn hair fell straight with her bangs arranged to the side.

"Wow," was all he could say when he parted with his brother and met his friends.

"I know; I look amazing don't I?" Julian intercepted.

"Shut up Jules," Jennifer, one of the groups new friends, said with a laugh.

"You should have told me you were going to wear red!" Crystal commented.

"Was I supposed to tell you? I thought I was just supposed to show up looking good," Michael replied, "Did I do well?" He strikes a pose with his finger and thumb on his chin and an eyebrow raised. The group of 8 laughed together.

"Yes you did. What about me?" she asked with pursed lips.

"You look-"

"Oh shit! They're playing my song! Let's go!" exclaimed Emanuel as he ran up to the front doors leaving his date behind.

"Goddamnit!" Jocelyn complained catching up to him.

The rest of the pairs of dates, Ruben and Jennifer, Julian and Victoria, and Michael and Crystal, lined up behind them and pulled out their tickets.

The 'dance floor' was packed with students Freshman to Senior year dancing along to 'All I Do Is Win'. There were tables for the students that would be exhausted from the activity and a concession stand selling drinks.

Throughout the night, Michael and his friends danced endlessly without giving care to how they looked. They were having fun; Michael was having fun. Songs as decent as dubstep, to well-known pieces like the 'Cupid Shuffle', to more risqué pieces like 'Say Aah'. Most of the room danced to the songs they were comfortable with – to songs they were skilled at dancing to – but Michael and his friends grooved to every song that played.

There were two slow-dance songs that played, encouraging those with dates to dance together and those that came single to ask other singles to dance. Michael and Crystal had missed the first one due to bad timing of using the restroom.

When the second one came on, Crystal immediately took Michael out to the center and the two began there slow and steady steps.

 **(Mad** by **Ne-Yo)**

 ** _(She's starin' at me, I'm sittin' here wonderin' what she's thinkin'.  
Nobody's talkin', 'cause talkin' just turned into screamin'…)_**

"You never answered my question from earlier," Crystal reminded Michael.

"Which one?" he asked unsurely.

"How do I look?" she asked while adjusting her hands around his neck.

"Oh yeah," Michael said. Whether it was the first time or the hundredth, he still found himself captivated by her.

"Well?" she egged him on.

"…Stunning," was all he could say. In the dark lighting of the hall, he couldn't see her blushing from the dizzy compliment.

"Oh stop it you," she said adjusting her hands again.

 ** _(…So both of us are mad for  
Nothin', Nothin', Nothin',  
But we won't let it go for  
Nothin', Nothin,'  
This should be nothin' to a love like what we got…)_**

"Is this your first dance with a girl?" she asked playfully.

"That obvious?"

She giggled, "A little."

"I mean; it's not like I had a lot of practice."

"What about your mom?"

"Oh hell-the-fuck no," he shot back quietly making her giggle even more.

"Why not? I practiced dancing with my dad."

"A little bit of a different story."

"Uh-huh how so?"

"I don't know it just is," he explained with a smile as wide as the crescent moon. Crystal found that part about him simply charming.

 ** _(…No I don't wanna go to bed  
Mad at you  
And I don't want you to go to bed  
Mad at me...)_**

"You want me to teach you?" she asked looking into his eyes.

"If you want," Michael said. He didn't really care, but dancing with her properly would be the icing on the cake of the night.

"Well first, don't be so stiff – loosen up a little."

"Like this?" He asked while letting his shoulder's hang a little and loosening the grip he had on her waist.

"Yeah, you got it. The movements are good, but let's throw in a little twirl. So take my hand with yours," she said taking one of her hands off his neck and out to the side a bit while moving the other towards his shoulder. Michael grabbed it lightly while keeping one hand on her waist. "Good, now move your hand a little bit towards my back."

"Like this?" Crystal blushed and laughed loudly at his mistake.

"No! Not lower, higher. Right there." Michael's hand was now at the crook of her back, a little bit above her rear. "Now try to throw a twirl in."

"Like this?" While letting go of her back, he raised his other hand up and moved it in a counterclockwise circle to allow Crystal to spin twice gracefully.

"Perfect," she praised.

 ** _(…Oh baby I know sometimes it's gonna rain  
But baby can we make up now 'cause  
I can't sleep through the pain…)_**

The two enjoyed the next minute off their dance in bliss before Crystal decided to be a little daring.

"Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever kiss your ex?"

"What?"

"Did you ever kiss Cynthia when you two were dating?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'll give you a surprise if you tell me."

"…"

"Well?"

"…No I didn't. But what does that have to do with-HMPH!" Seconds after Michael gave his answer, Crystal gently placed her lips onto Michael's.

 ** _(…Girl I don't want to go to bed  
Mad at you  
And I don't want you to go to bed  
Mad at me  
No I don't want to go to bed  
Mad at you  
And I don't want you to go to bed  
Mad at me.)_**

The two savored the kiss for as long as they could. For being Michael's for kiss, he couldn't pick out the details very well. He could only enjoy it for what it was. When Crystal pulled away, she looked into Michael's eyes and smiled radiantly.

"Surprised?"

"Uh… Yeah…"

"To tell you the truth," she said placing her head on his chest, "That was my first kiss too."

Michael, to stunned to respond, simply wrapped his arms around her and placed another kiss on her head. The two stayed that way until the lights were turned on and the staff began to clear out the hall.

 **[A few minutes earlier]**

"You care to dance, Tori?" asked Julian with an outstretched hand. Victoria, with too much on her mind, declined by shaking her head.

"What? Why not? We're a date; we're supposed to dance," he tried to reason, but Victoria looked for the quickest excuse out.

"I'm sorry, but my mom's gonna pick me up soon. Goodbye," she said so suddenly giving Julian no time to find a response. With that curt reply, she left the cafenasium. Immature as he may be, Julian was pretty smart when it came to figuring out people, and he wasn't having any of her bullshit.

"Victoria!" He shouted after her when he stepped outside. It might have looked like a simple dispute to random lookers, but Julian had never called Victoria by her actual name since they first met so long ago.

"What?" she asked a little frightened by his demeanor.

"Why are you acting like this? This is nothing like you."

"And what would you know Julian? How would you know what I normally act like?"

"Because I see you every fucking day! And for a while now, you've been a little off. You've been kinda distant."

"So? I'm failing APHG (Advanced Placement Human Geography) and I'm feeling a little depressed. Is that such a big deal?"

"It is when that has nothing to do about how you're acting in there. The whole night you haven't said a word…"

"Do I need to talk? Do I need to talk to you of all people?"

"At least talk to _somebody!_ It's about Michael isn't it?"

"W-What?" she hesitated, confirming Julian's suspicions.

"It's about Michael liking Crystal isn't it?"

"You're wrong-"

"Bullshit! Every time I look at you you're looking at _him!_ You look at him with eyes that say you want him. And then you look at Crystal and your eyes fall to the ground!"

"What do you care?! Are you jealous? You and I aren't even dating!"

"That doesn't matter! Jesus- AGH!" Julian yelled to the night sky. "The only thing I want is for all of us to stay friends. I don't give a rat's ass who someone likes or not, but I care if one of you are hurting. And every time I look at your eyes that never meet mine, all I see is sadness," he said calmly.

"…"

"And what's worse is that you're pushing all of us away. Me, Crystal who is your childhood friend, and even _Michael_ – the guy you like! You're treating everyone like shit because you can't let someone go."

"But…" Victoria tried to argue.

"How selfish can you be because someone doesn't like you? Are you just going to abandon all of us? Are you going to turn your back on us because we want to find our own happiness?"

"Well I want my own happiness too! Is it so hard to understand that maybe I want to be selfish? That I deserve to be selfish? I want to enjoy everything as much as you and them! But I can't be happy looking at the two of them like that!"

"Then why don't you just let go of those feelings?"

"Because I don't want to let him go!" Victoria finally admitted. "I've known him since the second grade! I've… I've seen more of him than _she_ has! I understand him more than she ever could! I," she battled her inner-mind on whether or not to tell Julian, "I _love_ him more than she does!"

"But does Michael know that?"

Silence. The only noise that reigned was their exhausted breathing and the intense volume of music.

"Look, maybe there's still a chance. At least tell Michael how you feel and see where it goes. If he can't choose, then be there for him all the time. Let him know you care and that you're always around."

Victoria stared at the ground contemplating Julian's words.

"Come on, let's go inside and join our friends before we leave for the night. Have a little bit of fun."

Victoria looked up at Julian and noticed that his eyes had something different than any other time she looked at them. They held understanding – like he had gone through something like this before.

Albeit reluctantly, she agreed to go back into the cafenasium and attempt to salvage the night for what it was worth. Hell, it was their first year of high school after all. It was their first high school dance.

Victoria's mood picked up bit by bit with each step. She hoped that after his last dance, she would be able to tell him how she feels…

 _She opens the door._

She would be able to have a chance with him. She would be able to have an opportunity with him.

 _She passes the entrance tables._

She would secure her future with him. She would make his dance with Crystal their last dance together.

 _She turns towards the center of the hall._

She would treat him better than Crystal would. She would care for him better than Crystal would. She would fucking _love_ him more than Crystal would…

 _And she sees her two closest friends in an embrace._

Her world became silent when she caught sight of the two of them with lips locked. The heavy beats in her chest that she had felt before turned into fissures that swallowed her heart whole. Every opportunity that she had in the past had been wasted. It was too late for her to claim him. It was too late for her to take what should have been hers.

Moments after seeing the new couple, Julian turned to Victoria and said, "Alright. You can go now. I'd understand at this point."

So she did. She turned around without emotion. She walked out of the cafenasium without emotion. She walked to the parking lot without emotion. She waited two minutes without emotion. She rode home in the back seat with no emotion. She went straight to bed…

…and couldn't help but let it all out. Every tear fell on her sheets. Every scream was muffled under her pillow. Every mention of his name fell on deaf ears. Every ounce of hope had been destroyed.

Her violent sobbing dwindled down into a convulsing weep, and she stayed that way until God finally let her sleep.

Even then, there was no way that she could escape reality.

* * *

 **a/n**

 **Not much beside a new character.**

 **(To Be Continued...)**


	10. Victoria (Cont)

**(...Immediately)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the songs used in this chapter.**

* * *

Victoria (Cont.)

 **[Present (R.121 Day 8)]**

 **(Michael's POV)**

Day eight on Route 121 was set aside for combat training. Originally for Victoria and I – to prepare ourselves for Fortree – we had planned to work on our physical strength and endurance together while also training on our battle prowess as a team. Now that Mark had decided to join us, I also had to cater to his training.

Remembering correctly that this city had a flying-type gym, it would be reasonable to assume that Mark wasn't ready. The fact that he was at a type disadvantage made it dangerous to use him. If real life was anything like that nightmare I had, his death would not be good in the slightest. I had to be careful.

If he was more powerful, he might have an advantage, but with the form he has now, it would be a no-go. He had to evolve into a nuzleaf. He needed to be able to move with more agility than simply hopping all over the place. In addition, we could work on his hand-to-hand combat towards other anthropomorphic threats.

So at the moment, his priority was to evolve. That being said, I had him work on running with one foot at a time. If he could isolate the movements in his feet to simulate running, perhaps that would spark a mutation in his form and, ultimately, an evolution. I picked out two trees roughly 25 meters apart and carved targets into them.

I had never seen someone so excited to run back in forth in my life, but he did it. He had trouble separating his foot-work, but he was able to get a slow start and work into a faster run.

As for Victoria, I tested the range and accuracy of her psychic attacks by ordering her to fire at that I marked. I only wanted her to lightly impact the trees so as not to chop them up completely. We started at distances of 20 meters and worked our way up to 100 meters. Every five successful hits gained another 20 meters and a single miss knocked it down 20.

It took about half the day for Victoria to barely hit 100 meters and for Mark to keep up with me on a slow jog. We took a quick break to eat lunch consisting of grilled barboach, or what I call back on my world: catfish.

After our break, I increased Mark's distance between trees to 50 meters and had him 'run' some more. If the sun hadn't been shining on him all day, he probably would have gotten very tired very fast.

For the second half of Victoria's training, I had her shooting at moving targets: aura spheres. We learned just yesterday that her psychic attacks can cut through or completely disintegrate my aura spheres, so I incorporated that fact into her training.

I stood from her with a 45 degree bearing from her line of sight and about 10 meters away. I first fired an aura sphere perpendicular to her line of sight – which she destroyed easily – and rotated about 5 degrees with every 5 successful hits. It was basically the same graduating procedure as that morning.

By the end of the day, I was disappointed to not work on battle commands with either of them, but I was glad that they both got a good start. It wasn't all too noticeable, but Mark's hopping speed had increased slightly since he started isolating his footwork this morning. Victoria's range was also increasing and she was able to control the execution of her attacks better.

Just an hour before dusk I asked Victoria to go catch a couple of linoone to eat along with the barboach. Unfortunately for me, I had used up most of the spices and juices in the first few days leaving me with little to make a good enough meal. I intended to reward our first training day as such, but as they say, _"Proper planning prevents piss-poor performance."_

 **"** **So you moved on that quickly?"** asked Victoria while I was in the middle of eating my linoone.

"Yes I did. Why?" I asked unsure where she was trying to go with this.

 **"** **I think it's a little too fast for you to be moving on to another mate after such a short time."**

"It was 3 months, and it was already over when she revealed her addiction. Therefore, I think it was an adequate amount of time." I corrected. However, I couldn't exactly feel proud of myself at the moment for moving on too fast. Back then when I was merry as a school boy, I thought moving on to Crystal was the best coping mechanism I could have.

After _those_ events, I couldn't disagree with myself any more than I did. I still do bang my head against the wall for even trying to be with her.

I'm in no way saying they were horrible memories; they were actually pretty happy. I enjoyed living life a little. I thought I couldn't be any happier.

It was the same feeling as finishing a game with a long story and a barely adequate ending: it was a good journey, but at the end it was just wasted time.

* * *

 **[November 2010]**

 **(3** **rd** **Person)**

"Match… START!" Coach Richard ordered to both Michael Blake and Andrew Molina. The two wrestlers slapped hands and the match began. The placement matches, those matches that determine Varsity placement in a certain weight class, were always the highlight to the veteran wrestlers in the room. To them, it not only signified who was worthy of their placement, but also how far each competitor has come since the first day of practice.

To Michael, it was just another fight. He didn't care how far he came or where he went as far as weight. He dared not to look behind himself. He only cared about winning. At least that's what Matthew said to him right before his match.

"Come on Michael! Go for the sweep!" Matthew suggested with sweat beading from his brow. Not only were the warmups intense, but the temperature of the wrestling room was outrageously high. Rumors around the school suggested that it was to fortify the will of each wrestler or that it taught discipline. Non-wrestlers would walk in sometimes, behind the cage that separated concrete from mat, to witness the blistering heat of an Arizona summer during the cold winter.

In all reality, though some people to this day could not understand, the heat was in place to help wrestlers in cutting weight.

The only problems the wrestling program had concerning the heat were the Cheer Program's complaints. A set of double doors separated the wrestling room from the cheer room, but that wasn't enough to stop the heat from leaking out.

For years, the cheerleaders waged war upon the wrestlers hoping that the heat would turn down so they could enjoy cool air conditioning as they practiced. Every time the issue was brought up, the wrestlers would only laugh. They had an unparalleled sense of pride and respect for tradition that having a heated room was as necessary as water.

At least that's how things used to be. Nowadays, it seemed that the cheerleaders would win this extended war due to their sheer perseverance and the lack of wrestler's pride. Students wanting to wrestle only desired to 'give it a try' instead of becoming a committed fighter of an elite community. The generation of wrestlers was dying out fast.

Matthew and Michael were a part of the older group – the one that would do anything to keep tradition alive. They, for a lack of a better term, were the last of a dying breed.

However, as he wrestled, Michael had no motivation, pride or sense of duty. It was only him, his opponent, and the mat.

Michael pawed his opponents head three times before going for a double-leg. Success; Michael was able to snake his arms around both of Andrew's legs and drive him to the side, but his opponent was tricky. He refused to fall to the ground and instead let Michael drive him off the mat.

Andrew was an adequate wrestler – not too good but good enough – but he was mostly a 'rulebook' wrestler. When it came down to it, he would force or persuade his opponent into making a move that would either a) move the two back to the 'neutral position', or b) break the rules resulting in a point or win for Andrew.

Michael was already aware of this, but on the mat he refused to understand Andrew's tricks.

As both began again in the neutral position, Andrew immediately dove in for a low-single forcing Michael to fall forward. Popping his head out the back and turning around, while gaining control of Michael's foot, Andrew was able to get behind him for a take-down score of two points.

"Time!" shouted Coach Richard to signal the end of the match. Just like that, Freshman Michael lost his chance to be in the Varsity 152lb spot to Senior Andrew. Both shook hands and made their way to the locker room as the rest of the weights carried on with their matches.

"Michael!" called Crystal with Victoria when he stepped outside of the room.

"Oh hey there Crys and Tori," he responded using their pet names. The girls thought it was cute and funny, but he was just too tired to call them by their full names.

"How was your practice?" asked his girlfriend, Crystal, as she hugged his sweat-covered body. Michael returned the gesture and quickly pushed away.

"It was good, but I'm covered in sweat," he mentioned hoping she would understand.

"So?" She questioned with a smile.

"Anyways," he continued being too exhausted to push the subject, "How was your guys' practice?"

"Cheerful," Crystal replied as a joke between their group.

"Oh shut up Crys."

"Don't tell my baby girl to shut up!" Victoria feigned while hugging Crystal from behind.

"Victoria, *sniff* my baby's being mean to me," Crystal said with a false sob. The two turned towards each other and embraced while tired Michael stared on feeling only the cold air of the hallway freeze his back.

"It's okay, Crystal, I'll make you feel better," Victoria said soothingly as she petted her friend's head. Only Michael could see the devious look on his girlfriend's face.

'What the hell is she thinking?' he thought.

At an incredible speed, Crystal back away just slightly and moved her face onto Victoria's giving her a big wet kiss or two. Both victim witness blushed furiously – albeit for different reasons – while the assailant made a reach for her friend's rear.

"Alright I'm going to get a drink," Michael said attempting to leave the scene.

At the same time, Victoria pushed away while wiping her mouth saying, "Jesus Christ! What the fuck was that Crystal?!"

"Wait Baby!" Crystal called out as she ran to the shirtless teen. The two kissed and hugged while Victoria tried to piece together what had just happened.

Crystal was usually the joker in the group, but that might have been a little too far to Victoria. Then she turns around and kisses her boyfriend too…

Victoria froze thinking about what that meant. To her, it meant that Michael would probably get a taste of her own lips through Crystal's. It was a small thought that made her heart flutter a little, but in the month that the couple had been together, Victoria accepted the fact that her two best friends would make a happy couple. She no longer pained over the fact that Michael would love another girl… at least not publicly.

Still, the indirect kiss would be enough motivation to get through the week.

[Post-Practice Shower]

"So you're telling us that _both_ of them are childhood friends?" asked Brandon to Michael and Julian. Both gave a simultaneous nod while the rest of the freshman wrestlers, even some of the JV and Varsity, awed over their luck. To the whole school, the two girls in Michael's original group of friends were dubbed as the 'cutest freshman'.

"Well, I knew them before this guy here," Michael said gesturing to Julian, "But we've all been pretty tight-knit ever since."

"Who did you meet first again?" asked Julian wanting the whole team to hear everything about the past.

"Well, Tori introduced me to Crystal a couple of months after we really met back in the second grade," Michael said before pausing. Bringing up that simple memory had reminded him of why he and Victoria became friends that year.

"So you've known Victoria longer but you're dating Crystal now?" asked Mark, the loveable heavyweight freshman. Michael remained silent. He had dived too far into his memories to come back to the team. It was up to Julian to save him.

"Why? You got somethin' ya wanna say about Victoria? Cause she's mine!" he exclaimed hoping that it would take attention off of Michael.

"What? That's bullshit – I bet I'll have her by the end of the semester," Trey boasted getting the whole locker room to laugh and 'ooh' at the challenge.

All except Julian and…

"What'd you say?" Michael asked casually. For Julian, it was like the alert for a nuclear disaster had just sounded off.

"I said I'll own that shit by December," Trey uttered while continuing to laugh. Looking at both Michael's and Julian's eyes, some of the wrestlers began to pick up on the negative vibes that were taking over.

In a flash, Michael pinned his wrestling partner against a locker prompting the veterans to pull the two of them apart.

"The fuck you think you're doing?!" Trey yelled.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Michael yelled back with vigor in his eyes.

"Michael calm down," Julian whispered to him, "You want to wrestle the next meet or do you want to get suspended?"

"You're okay with him talking about our friend like that?!"

"No, but I'm willing to play this out smartly."

"Listen to your friend, Michael. Now's not the time to deal with this-"

"Man, fuck your friendship. You already banging with Crys; why you worried about her friend?" Trey interrupted.

"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!" Coach Ricard screamed entering the locker room. He had heard the commotion and came to investigate, but certainly wasn't pleased to find the two freshman studs being held back by other wrestlers.

"HUH?! SOMEONE GIVE ME AN ANSWER!"

"It was nothing, Coach," Andrew spoke up, "Trey slipped on the floor and accidently punched Michael's nethers. Mike got pissed and took it as a challenge and here we are," he said while looking displeased himself. No one dared to argue with one of the best wrestlers the team had, and Richard certainly wouldn't doubt him either.

"…Hurry up with your showers. I gotta close this fucking place up by Seven and all you got homework to do," the coach spoke with an eerie calmness. The moment he left the room, the rest of the wrestlers began to wash up or leave.

Trey and Michael continued glaring at each other until Trey gave up saying, "Fuck this, I'm out." The freshman grabbed his bag and gear and left the room without saying another word.

"I thought you would be a little smarter about the situation," Andrew said.

"I thought you could fuck off," Michael tried, but it was a failed comeback.

"Hey, I was just trying to help. Trust me, you don't want to feel the Coach's wrath after practice."

Michael ignored his words and returned to packing all of his things. At the same time, he thought of the days when it was just Victoria and him. She was the only one, despite seeing what he had done, that reached out to him and helped him out of the darkness.

"I'll wait in the car," Matthew said to him as he continued thinking.

But he couldn't think of that; he was dating Crystal. Thinking of her, she was the first one that accepted him as a friend _without_ seeing what he had done. She ignored all of the rumors and lies that were spread out among the school. Instead, she welcomed him into a small circle of three – and eventually four – that helped him back onto the path of livelihood.

 _That_ Crystal, one of the first people to treat him the way he wanted to be treated – as a human – was now his girlfriend. He couldn't be any happier with the outcome.

Finished with hygiene, Michael prepared to head out the door when Andrew, the only other person in the locker room, stopped him.

"Don't go looking for trouble now," he warned, "And word of advice: if you're going to make a comeback, at least make it relevant to the situation. Also, don't put so much effort into caring about how it sounds. They kinda contradict, but trust me it'll help."

With that, Michael left into that hall and out to the breezy night.

"Goodnight Michael," a voice called out to him once he passed the gate.

"Victoria? What are you still doing out here?" He asked upon recognition.

"My mom's a little late, so I'm waiting out here," she said while hugging herself to shield the brisk air.

"Jesus, it's cold as fuck out here. You need a ride home?" Michael asked being worried about her welfare.

"No it's alright. My mom just texted me saying she'll be here around 8:30." Michael checked his phone and almost wanted to throw it down.

"It's 7:00 Tori…" he deadpanned.

"I know," she said with her eyes closed. To him, it seemed like she knew the reality of the time difference, but she didn't want to burden him by asking for a ride.

"Victoria," he stated firmly, gaining her attention, "Get in the car. No 'buts'."

She gave a silent thanks and the two entered Matthew's car without a word to each other the entire way. Matthew occasionally glanced at his brother through the rear-view mirror. With the event that just occurred not even 30 minutes ago, it wasn't exactly hard to tell what Michael could be thinking. It would be easy to predict Michael's behavior around Victoria's presence or subject after what just happened.

Matthew didn't really care if his brother became a guardian among his friends. His only worry was if going too far to protect them would only result in a relapse of that time in his second grade.

* * *

 **[February 2012]**

 _~How're your matches going babe? 3~_

Michael looked down at his phone with a gentle smile.

 _~Pretty good. I've gone 2-0 so far for the first day. They were scrubs x) ~_

"What's it been? Like two years now?" Michael looked over his shoulder to find Coach Richard standing over him with his arms folded.

"What you talkin' 'bout Rich? I thought I told you it was about 2 and a half years when you asked me last week?" Michael replied to his coach.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You asked after she pinned my medal on me at sectionals. You sure you're not getting too old?"

"Hey, don't get cheeky with me, Mike. You still got tomorrow to win State. Once you do that, you can call me a dinosaur for all I give a fuck," Richard replied sternly, but with a light heart.

Both teacher and student grew fond of each other in the three years Michael wrestled for the school. Some would say that they seemed like father and son with how they acted around each other.

Regardless of their personal relationship, the two were an unstoppable duo on the mat. With Michael's strength and Richard's observation, they would be able to get out of any situation that seemed like the end. Michael owed most of his success as a wrestler to Richard's teachings and dedication to be the best. However, even without Coach Richard, Michael still had his determination to dominate each and every opponent out on the mat.

The answer to where he got his determination was a combination of many reasons, but none was more prevalent than his will to be the best for one person: Crystal.

 _~Lol that's mean babe ;P 3 ~_

Michael smiled at her antics; she was never fond of the wresting caste system. Michael wasn't too fond of calling others something of a lower status, but he had learned, through trial and error, that those who are the best deserve to be at the top of the food chain.

 _~Gotta say it how it is :P They had the skill to make it this far so it's all fair game lol ~  
~You ready to see me win tomorrow? ~_

As of now, Michael had qualified to move on to the second day of the Arizona State Finals. With his first day already complete, he was relieved to relax and take a load off until his matches resumed the next day. The three others that made it to the second day, while remaining in the championship bracket, were Julian, Ruben, and Moses.

To Michael's joy, Crystal, Victoria, and few other friends would come to watch him the next day. Even Matthew – who had graduated last year and moved on to the military – was going to visit on leave to watch Michael win State.

Michael couldn't imagine a better way to finish off the first season in which he would become a champion.

 _~ Can't wait ;) 3 ~_

"I might just marry her," Michael announced out of the blue to his coach and team mates. Needless to say, he wasn't all too surprised by their negative reactions.

"You're too young to be thinking about that," said Coach Richard.

"ALRIGHT I GET IT!" Michael snapped eliciting a fit of laughter from everyone.

And so, the rest of the day passed uneventfully as everyone impatiently waited for the end of the next one. Michael and his team slept in the nearby hotel where he, to his friends' annoyance, talked to Crystal until the late hours forced him to sleep.

[…]

"Hey babe; what's up?" Michael asked Crystal through the phone.

"I'm sorry baby, but," she paused on the other end. In his mind, several alarms were going off simultaneously as he waited for her to continue. "…I can't go to your matches today. I'm SO sorry! It's just that my dad won't let me go with Tori because he's worried that we'll get in trouble all the way in Prescott and he says I have to focus on my grades and preparing for the SAT. I'm really sorry!"

Michael remained silent as she spoke. For a month now, he was looking forward to having her watch him as he won the most important match of the season. For years, Michael visualized the day he would win and dedicate his match to Crystal. The two talked about it every day leading up to this moment. Both imagined what they would do once Michael won his last match. Both shared with each other what they would do like they read it off of a script. Crystal had promised with her heart and soul that she would be there.

To have that moment taken away was like a punch to the stomach, but there was not much he could do about it at this point.

He _wanted_ to tell her old man to let her go. He _wanted_ to yell at him for not letting Crystal support her boyfriend. He _wanted_ to ask Crystal why she didn't fight hard enough to come to Prescott. Even in the depths of his heart, he _wanted_ to yell at her for not getting her priorities in order prior to this event.

Yet even with his desire to blame one person or the other for this situation, he could not find it in his heart – as strong as he claimed it to be – to say any of that to Crystal.

Especially because this wasn't the first time this happened.

"…It's alright babe. I understand," he spoke in monotone.

"I'm really-"

"No. It's alright."

 _'_ _It's not alright.'_

"I understand."

 _'_ _I don't understand.'_

"It's not your fault."

 _'_ _It's someone's fault.'_

"There's always next year."

 _'_ _But you couldn't be there for the first.'_

"I know babe, but I just really wish I was there for the first one," Crystal replied on the other end.

"Well there's not much we can do about it now… I gotta go. Coach is waking us up now," he lied, "I love you."

 _'_ _Why can't you love me more?'_

"I love you too baby," she said sincerely. He kept his phone to his ear after she hung up.

It was true that things like this have happened before. It was true that things like this happened all the time to couples everywhere. Yet, even with that evidence, he still couldn't accept that things went this way for him.

His first official match: she wasn't there. His first home match: she wasn't there. His first Senior Night as a Varsity wrestler: she wasn't there. His first sectionals: she wasn't there. It didn't stop at wrestling. JROTC events, community service, and even events outside of school. What was worse was that her inability to be with Michael had been declining albeit at a slow rate.

"You good?" James asked him.

"Yeah. Nothing's wrong," he lied. It was a minor detail, but Michael was beginning to realize that he was lying more and more recently.

Most of those lies were to himself.

* * *

 **[Present (R.121 Day 15)]**

 **{Michael's POV}**

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" I asked Victoria. Now, I wasn't too familiar with the layout of the Hoenn region from memory, but I was pretty sure that Fortree was somewhat northwest of Lilycove. However, for the past 15 days the two of us – now three ever since Mark joined us – have been traveling west towards the sunset without making a single deviation in direction.

 **"** **For the hundredth time, yes. I am sure. I have been there before** ** _at least_** **thrice."**

Thrice; that was definitely going in my dictionary.

"Aha! So you're _not_ from Fortree!" I exclaimed victoriously.

 **"** **Have I ever, at least one time, led you to believe that I was?"** She asked. **"Because if I did, I was most likely lying to you. That, or you jump to conclusions too quickly."**

 **"** **As much as I disagree with Victoria-san's tone towards you,"** Mark interjected, **"I have to partly agree with her last accusation."**

I felt betrayed, but less of an intensity than _real_ betrayal.

"When have I ever jumped to a conclusion too quickly?" I asked without thinking about their possible response.

 **"** **Your dream."**

 **"** **Now."**

 **"** **Your hunting."**

 **"** **Now."**

 **"** **Our limits."**

 **"** **Tomorrow."**

"ALRIGHT! Wait – tomorrow?" I asked Mark with a puzzled demeanor.

 **"** **I apologize, Guardian. It seems I have jumped to a conclusion as well."**

 **"** **At least it is valid,"** mumbeled Victoria.

"Whatever. Mark, you know your way around the forest right?"

 **"** **I have never been outside of the Nuzleaf village until I met you."**

"What about your compadres over there. Some of them had to have went exploring _sometime_ in their lives. Right?"

 **"** **That is correct,"** he affirmed.

"Well, why don't we just go ask them? It's gotta be somewhere around here right?"

 **"** **You ditz, I told you that I know where I am-"**

 **"** **I apologize once again, but we seemed to have passed my village the day our paths crossed."**

"SON OF A BITCH!" I shouted up at the sky… or treetops depending on how you look at it.

 **"** **MICHAEL!"** Victoria yelled. For a second there I thought it was Melanie in the way she said my name. As a matter of fact, it was the _first_ time she mentioned my name at all. Though it grabbed my attention immediately, the way she called out to me was just for that reason. I had no reason to worry. **"As I said before, we are** ** _not_** **lost! There is a river that runs from the Ever Grande Sea to the northeast of Fortree. Tell me,** ** _Guardian,_** **what do you see to our left?!"**

I was wrong about not needing to worry; she was another sort of scary. About as much as Melanie, but definitely on another scale. I became silent. Mark became silent; it looked like he dared not to correct her manners towards me this time.

I slowly cranked our head to the left to find a small creek flowing to the east. Not only that, but there was also a small, black pooch that stared at us with its tail tucked under its stomach. With a conjured aura sphere, I successfully sent it yipping and running away – though that was not my intention.

But going back to 'river' subject, this obviously wasn't one – at least in my book. To me, a river was at least 30 feet in width. In front of me was a running body of water about 10 feet. This was definitely a creek, but I just had to ask.

"Victoria, how big is this 'river' supposed to be?" I asked her.

 **"** **About 10-20 feet," she stated.**

"Alright, just making sure." At least she right on the description. I would love to disagree and find another way, but a) I have no leads on any other direction, and b) I'm not some power-hungry bastard that disagrees with everyone just to look like a leader, and then wanders aimlessly because I have NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT I'M DOING BECAUSE I'M A FUCKBAG PIECE OF SHIT THAT JUST DOESN'T LET PEOPLE MORE REASONABLY CAPABLE TO COMPLETE THE TASK TO LEAD THE FUCKING GROUP!

…

Sorry about venting just then. The past still gets to me.

Speaking of which…

* * *

 **[April 26, 2012]**

 **{3** **rd** **Person}**

Michael Blake would never know what was in store for him on that fateful day. Perhaps he might have predicted the outcome, perhaps he might have known all along, or perhaps he truly never saw it coming. However, with each possibility, the way he felt at the end of the day would remain the same.

 _It was the day that he would experience firsthand the feeling of betrayal._

 _~Hey, you free tonight? ~_ he texted her with light fingers. The School Prom was in two weeks, but he wanted to have a date with her just once before then.

Just the two of them.

 _~I'm sorry babe. I have to study tonight for the AP test. 3 ~_

Michael looked at the message with a slight feeling of regret. He knew that those in the Advanced Placement English Literature course had a test the following week. He knew that, but he decided to talk to her anyway. It has been a long month since Michael boldly asked for her hand in Prom Night. It was a given due to their relationship, yet he wanted to yell it out in front of the school as a symbol for his devotion to her. Some would say it was silly; others would say it was too much for a simple dance.

It's been a longer two months since the two had gone out on a date in general. In the back of his mind, Michael felt some doubts in their relationship, but with the assistance of Victoria, Julian, and Crystal herself, he came to the conclusion that not all couples need to be together _all_ the time, and that he was being irrational in his thoughts.

Still, for a man with his past, he felt nonetheless lonesome.

 _~lol I was just kidding. I know too well that you need to keep those grades up :P Sorry for bugging you. ~_

 _~Love you :3 ~_ He sent with a double text. With that question out of the way, he decided on what to do with his free time for the night. He could go hang out with Julian and watch a movie.

No; Julian had several younger siblings to take care of.

He contemplated on the option of hanging out with Victoria, but realized it was futile. For she, too, had to study for the AP test.

There was no freestyle practice that night because of Coach Richard's own personal affairs. Matthew had a field event to go to, so Skype wasn't an option. Emanuel was busy with his own girlfriend.

 _~You joker you ;) Love you too 3 3 ~_

Two hearts; that was new, but just like that, a lightbulb lit up inside Michael's head.

He could surprise her at her house with a study session between the two of them. Three if Victoria was there already. He didn't know much about the class she was taking, but perhaps he could be there to quiz the two of them on trivial knowledge.

Yeah. He went with that idea and chose to drive to Victoria's house.

Michael started up his car with a bright smile on his face. For the first time in a while, he would at least spend some quality time with his love. Even if it was just to help her ace the test.

 _With his one-track mind, he would never see the horror unfold in front of him._

As he drove from the school to her house's general direction, he thought of bringing her a gift. Some chocolates or flowers might work, and maybe a drink for Victoria to show his appreciation for her help.

With that, he stopped by the local market and picked up a box of chocolates for Crystal and a sweet tea for Tori. He was doing the right thing; he just knew it.

Unfortunately for him, the line at the register was suspiciously long for a Thursday evening. The thought of sending a cryptic message to the two girls crossed his mind, but he negated the opportunity. A full-on surprise would be better.

After a long 20-minute wait in line, he finally purchased his gifts and headed out to his car where he would drive to Crystal's house.

Upon arrival, he noticed that the two cars – the ones normally there in the driveway – were absent.

'Perhaps her parents are out for the night,' he thought. Better for their surprise.

 _Even worse for his._

When he came to the door he took a deep breath and knocked. Realizing that he probably looked like a bag of ass, he did a once-over on himself to make sure there were no flaws in his appearance. The fact that he was able to do so three times made him think that she may not have heard the knock.

Michael knocked a little harder on the door, and this time the door swung open.

Already, Michael's internal alerts were going off. He remembered Crystal telling him that she always locked her door.

'An intruder?' he thought immediately. The lock seemed to be fine in regards to appearance and function, so perhaps this assailant was a lock-picker. A fine one at that.

Michael stepped inside and gently set his gifts down by the door after gently shutting it. He then grabbed his pocket knife and got into a battle-ready stance to prepare for the worse.

Not that it would do much if the assailant had a gun.

He walked through the common areas of the house to inspect for any damage or mistreatment, but he found nothing.

"Hehe," he heard in the hallway. It was Crystal – her laugh. How he loved that laugh; his paranoia was cast away and replaced with a warm feeling in his heart just hearing it. That kind of laugh was only heard around him and the other two friends they shared a deep connection with. That meant that Victoria was certainly with her.

With that in mind, Michael sheathed his knife and picked up his gifts where he would surprise the two at Crystal's door.

With each step his heart pounded. He shrugged it off as a reaction to showing up to her place uninvited.

 _Little did he give credit to the feeling that was telling him something else._

The closer he walked, the louder the soft giggles became. He just loved her laugh so much; he could drown in it.

 _He eventually would._

If Michael was not drunk with the idea of seeing her, and if he paid any attention to his surroundings, he would hear the soft laughter and speech of someone else.

 _Someone else that was no girl._

He took the final step to the door and place his hand on the handle. It was unlocked.

 _Turn back._

He turned it slowly.

 _Turn back now._

He gave a gentle push.

 _You were warned._

…

"Trey…" He uttered. It wasn't the first name he thought would come to mind when he stepped in that room. It wasn't the first person he thought would come to mind when he stepped in that room.

Even worse: it wasn't the first person he thought he would see in Crystal's bed with her on top of him… shirtless.

For a while he stood there blank in the face as Crystal turned around with the expression of terror on hers and blind surprise on Trey's.

Michael fought hard to not believe what was in front of him. He thought he was dreaming. He _had_ to be dreaming. This had to be some sick, psychologically horrific nightmare he had conjured up while falling asleep in his car. Getting into a car accident would feel better than this by a thousand-fold.

No matter how hard he fought this feeling, no matter how hard he wanted to not believe-

No matter how desperately hard he wanted to shrug off what he was feeling, he couldn't.

Many words formed in his mind. Words and sentences ranging from demands for answers to blasphemous insults to prayers of forgiveness to pleas for mercy and understanding ran through his head over and over.

Yet, only one single word came out of his mouth before he turned around like a zombie, dashed out the door, hopped in his car, and drove home with tears threating his vision, "Crystal."

Michael fought his hardest to burst into tears and uncontrollable sobbing as he zoomed through the neighborhood and roads to his house.

However, the moment he got out, went to the door of his empty house, walked in and shut that door, he broke.

It was definitely the first feeling of betrayal he had, but it was definitely not the first time he broke on the inside. There was another time long before the events that transpired on that day where Michael as broken.

As he cried, there was only one person he could think of that put those broken pieces back together like they were never broken in the first place. There was only one person that nursed him back to psychological health.

*Ding dong* The doorbell echoed throughout the empty house.

Whoever it was, Michael thought of only one delayed action: revenge. With eyes full of grief and fists full of rage, he stomped towards the door and opened it with one swoop to strike the first person he saw.

But the sight of _that_ one person that helped him before washed those feelings away. He rubbed his eyes and straightened himself out before she could look up from her bag, but it was no use.

"Hey Michael. I'm sorry to bother you after school, but you left your- Oh my God! Michael what happened?!" she exclaimed walking inside. She noticed his red eyes and the damp look to them that only meant one thing. She put her hand to his cheek as she dropped her bag and all its contents.

She had not seen this side of Michael ever since the two were kids. He was always such a happy-go-lucky person – at least in front of her he was.

As hard as he tried, in the few seconds her hand was placed gently on his cheek like a gentle mother would to her precious child, Michael broke down in front of the third person that had ever seen him cry. He reached towards Victoria's hand and felt its smooth texture. It was soft like a pillow. He couldn't help but crash into her in an embrace that left her shoulder wet from the tears.

Victoria knew that something really bad must have happened, but she couldn't tell what. It was only when she imagined Michael embracing his girlfriend instead of her that she imagined that something happened between the two of them. But for him to cry like this in front of _her_ was something on a whole new level.

As much as she wanted Michael to let it all out then and there, she guessed that when Michael cried like this, which was ultimately solemn, he could probably go on for hours. With that in mind, she walked him over to the living room couch where she sat down and let Michael cry on her lap.

She tried her best to soothe him by uttering words of reassurance and stroking his head, but it seemed fruitless in the hour she tried.

Only one idea came to mind in ending his episode for the night, but she felt nervous in carrying it out.

No, Michael needed this. No matter how embarrassing it was, it was for Michael – her first and only crush.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine;  
You make me happy when skies are gray;  
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you;  
Please don't take my sunshine away."

"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping;  
I dreamt I held you in my arms…"

Michael's crying began to lighten as he heard her melodic voice. He had heard her sing before, but it never sounded so… beautiful. I was like a siren's song, but more comforting.

"As I awoke dear, I was mistaken;  
So I bowed my head, and I cried."

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine;  
You make me happy when skies are gray;  
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you…"

Michael picked his head up and moved it closer to Victoria's face as she kept singing. The two stared into each other's eyes like each had their own universe to explore, but Victoria was the only one smiling. It was a comforting smile – one that let Michael know that it would be okay.

"Please don't take… my sunshine… away."

Victoria trailed off as she finished the song. She stole a glance at Michael's lips as he came closer.

But this wasn't right. Michael was in a relationship with Crystal: her _BEST_ friend. She couldn't kiss him, but all of the years of pent up feelings toward him were beginning to leak out. She _wouldn't_ kiss him, but her heart reacted on its own by moving her head forward ever so slightly that it gave Michael all he needed to know.

 **( watch?v=3v7YHEnYUnE)  
(Start at 0:18)**

With Michael taking the initiative, the two shared a small kiss with the sunset beaming through the window. What only lasted seconds felt like an eternity to the both of them before they broke apart. That emotion was deeper for Victoria for how she had always felt about the man in front of her.

And who was that broken man in front of her that showed the weakest side of him to her and only her? It was Michael: the man she saved as a kid. He was the man that she became friends with at such a young age. He was the man that took his three friends on imaginary adventures when they could still hold those imaginations as kids. He was the man that saved her depression when her parents separated. He was the man that filled her gaps. This wasn't just the man she saved, it was the man that, in return, saved her.

In a moment of desire, need, grief, and blind lust, both of their face collided once again with passion as one kissed the other. Their actions ignited a fire within themselves that burned so bright it would incinerate the world. With one 'I love you' after the other, both found themselves lying together, skin-to-skin, in Michael's bed with the window open. The starry night watched over the two as the warm Arizona-spring breeze soothed them to the depths of slumber.

As sad as it was when Victoria found out what had happened to Michael, that night was the happiest she had ever been and ever will be.

 **(End Song)**

* * *

 **[April 28, 2012]**

As Victoria pulled into the school parking lot, she breathed out a mixture of words and blasphemies that would make a demon shudder in fear. She was reluctant to believe it at first, but the moment that Michael told her what he saw the day prior was the moment she lost her respect for her former friend. Hearing about what she did to him was like hearing a story about another person entirely; no one she knew could make Michael cry the way he did.

At least, that's what she thought.

Getting out of Michael's car, she marched her way up and into the school to find _her._

 _(This morning)_

 _"_ _Good morning Michael," Victoria mumbled into his neck. She had always wanted to say those words to him, but actually doing it felt surreal._

 _"_ _Mmmm… Morning Tori," he replied in a drowsy state. She giggled at the way he sounded. She believed that the first words of the day were the most truthful, and having him say that put her in a deeper state of euphoria. She didn't want to leave his side, but looking at the clock she knew that she would have to go to school._

 _"_ _Wake up Michael, we have to go to school." After that statement, she picked up a reluctant vibe from him. It was one that was more afraid than rebellious for ditching their classes._

 _"_ _I don't want to."_

 _"_ _Come on," she said with sweet persuasion, "we can't just-"_

 _"_ _Just stay here with me… Just a little longer," he told her as he hugged her body closer to him. How could she say no to him? She couldn't, but she could ask why._

 _"_ _What happened yesterday?" she asked boldly._

(Present)

'Where is she?' That question ran through her head as she walked up and down the school to find _her_ – not even questioning the places that _she_ would normally be found.

"Hey Tori. Where's your bag?" asked one of her friends.

"Have you seen Crystal around here?" She asked with a demanding tone. The friend was a little shocked that she didn't acknowledge the greeting or question.

"Um, I haven't yet. Doesn't she usually hang around with Michael at the football field? Tori? Where are you going?!" the friend called out, but it was useless. Victoria was already on her way towards the field with one objective in mind.

 _(This morning)_

 _"_ _Michael? Tell me what happened," she spoke softly. When she didn't receive a response, she escaped from Michael's grasp and straddled herself on top of him._

 _"_ _Michael," she said forcing him to look into her deep brown eyes, "I can't help you if you don't tell me. Please; I want to help."_

 _On any other occasion, Michael would be aroused to have Victoria's slender frame, or any other girl's, naked on top of him. However, with the situation Victoria was bringing up, he could feel nothing but remorse for what he saw yesterday._

 _"_ _Fine…" With a deep breath, he told his story and what he witnessed at Crystal's house. Michael wasn't one to beat around the bush with details, but in order for her to get a clear picture, he had to tell her everything leading up to that fateful moment._

 _Victoria was dumbfounded and tried her best to not believe her prediction of the end, but as Michael spilled the last detail, she could feel nothing but anger and pity. When he paused at the end, Victoria took that chance to steal another kiss from him, and another, and another._

 _"_ _Alright. You can stay here," she said. Even with what was going on, she thought it was funny to give permission to someone the same age as her to stay home. With a final kiss, she climbed off of the bed and put her clothes on._

 _"_ _Where are you going?" Michael asked. Victoria looked him dead in the eye with a face as sweet as ever._

 _"_ _I'm going to put the bitch in her place," she spoke without feeling anything but assurance for Michael. It was truthfully frightening to see her like this._

 _"_ _Wait," Michael called out before she left the room, "Stay here. Please. Don't leave."_

 _The way he looked at her was like a sad puppy watching his owner leave for the last time never to return. Victoria couldn't ignore that face, but she had a mission. So she gave him a last kiss._

 _"_ _Don't worry. I'll never leave you. I never have," she spoke from the bottom of her heart._

(Present)

There she was. Victoria found Crystal sitting on top of the bleachers by herself. She seemed to be fidgeting around with her fingers and looked as scared and nervous as ever, but Victoria saw through it all.

"Tori-"

 _*SLAP*_

"How _dare_ you?!" Victoria spat with venom. Crystal couldn't help but look away as she cupped a hand over her burning cheek.

"I'm sorr-"

" _Sorry?!_ You're damn right you're sorry! How could you do that?! To Michael of all people!" Crystal remained silent. "It's been three years. THREE YEARS that the two of you have been together! You've known him since the third grade! You were one of Michael's best friends! YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND! Do you remember what he was like before you two met? Everyone hated him and _we_ were the only ones that cared enough to be his friend! And you _cheat on him NOW?!_ Do you know how much he cared about you?! Do you know how much _I_ care about _HIM?!"_

Crystal looked around at the students that were beginning to watch. She feared for her reputation and tried to signal her friend to stop.

"Am I getting too loud? HOW ABOUT THIS?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE MEANS TO ME?! EVERYTHING!"

"I care about him too Tor-"

 _*SLAP*_

"You care about him?! If you cared about him, why were you busy _FUCKING_ another guy?! Oh that's right: YOU NEVER CARED FOR HIM! He was just some toy to you!"

"Tori-"

"You weren't the one that came to him in his time of need; I WAS! You weren't the one that helped him through his troubles; I WAS! You weren't there to be with him during his matches, events, or ANYTHING; I WAS! You weren't there for him at his state tournament; I was. You weren't there for his brother's ship-off party; I was. You WERE NEVER THERE!"

The students began to gather like bees to honey.

"I was always there for him. I was there when he was sad. I was there when he was happy. I was there when he won. I was there when he lost. WHERE WERE YOU?! WERE YOU STILL FUCKING THAT STUPID GUY!"

"Tori-"

*SLAP* Tears began falling from both of their eyes.

"Don't you _ever_ call me that again. Don't _ever_ think that I'll forgive you. Don't _ever_ think that I care for you anymore; you can rot in hell for all I _care._ And don't you _EVER_ go near him again."

The murmurs of the growing crowd that have already reached Crystal's ears have finally reached Victoria's.

"Have fun with _Trey,_ slut _._ He deserves a fucking _bitch_ like you."

* * *

 **[Present (R.121 Day 15)]**

Both Victoria and Mark remained silent after telling them about that fiasco in high school. It was probably because of the connection we shared; perhaps they felt some off the same emotions I did. Just telling the two of them that brought up several old feelings – some that I wish would go, but others stay.

 **"** **So she** ** _was_** **unfaithful,"** Victoria stated breaking the silence, " **It kind of makes me wish to see this 'Crystal' myself; though, I can't say that she would have a set of eyes anymore if I did."**

 **"** **I have to agree with Victoria-San. This woman is of the lowest scum that dared to walk the earth,"** Mark pitched in.

I laughed at their words of insult towards my ex-fiancé as we walked towards the sun. It made me feel just a little valued to have people have conversations and joke with in this world; even if we aren't on the same speaking level, or even if we were different species altogether.

The last time I felt such a way was the end of Junior year going through Senior year: the days that I spent with the Victoria of the past.

* * *

 **[Senior Prom 2013]**

 **{3** **rd** **Person}**

Alas it was finally their Senior Prom. All over America, the night was dubbed as the pinnacle of adolescence before becoming adults. Most of the juniors and seniors that attended this particular school went to this event to dance and party the night away. Couples found it to be the perfect night of romance with their partners.

Tables were arranged around the dance floor of the hall with decorations to celebrate the graduating class. Lights and candles illuminated the hall accordingly to provide the right mood when a certain song came on.

However, this scene isn't where we find our couple of the story. No; in fact, both Michael and Victoria were instead celebrating in their own way. It was quite the surprise to Victoria when Michael suggested that they not go to Prom, but instead to a location some 50 miles west of where they lived.

Under the stars of a clear night do we find Michael, Victoria, a guitar, and a small bonfire.

"AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOUU!"

"Hahaha – oh my God, Michael keep going!" Victoria barely cried out while trying to hold in her laughter. If Michael hadn't put so much effort in being as loud and on key as possible with his singing, Victoria might have had some sort of self-control.

"AND I… WILL ALWAYS LOVE… you…"

"How was that?" Michael asked giving a kiss on her forehead.

"That… was… I'm sorry Michael…"

"Way to ruin a man's ego," He mumbled while pinching her cheek.

"Ow! Relax babe you were good," she tried assuring him.

"Oh, am I now?" He challenged looking directly into her eyes.

"Hmmm I don't know," Victoria said falsely.

"Oh yeah? How about you sing then?" Michael asked.

"Oh no."

"Oh yeah! Sing! Sing! Sing! Sing! Sing for Ramses!" He chanted while nudging her stomach.

"No Michael–HAHA–MICHAEL THAT TICKLES–HAHA – ALRIGHT I'LL SING!" She gave in. Michael released her from his grasp and hugged her close in a more comforting way. Victoria adjusted herself so she could be more comfortable in his arms, and she began.

 _"_ _Two days past eighteen; he was waitin' for the bus in his Army greens;  
Sat down in a booth at a café there gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair;  
She's a little shy, so she gave him a smile;  
And he said, 'Would you mind sittin' down for a while and talkin' to me,  
I'm feelin' a little low.'  
She said, 'I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go._

 _So they went down and they sat on the pier;  
He said, 'I bet you got a boyfriend, but I don't care;  
I got no one to send a letter to.  
Do you mind if I sent one back here to you?'_

 _I cried;  
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy;  
Too young for him they told her; Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier;  
Our love will never end;  
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again;  
Never more to be alone when the letter says,  
'A soldier's comin' home.'"_

As she sang for him, Michael listen attentively while gently squeezing her hand in his. Her voice was that of an angel sent down from heaven; it was a voice he would never get tired of hearing.

In the year that the two have been together romantically, both have become the happiest they had ever been. Not once did they think, as children, that as they grew older, both would become nigh inseparable. Both filled each other's voids with memories of bliss, pleasure, and hope that could never be erased.

Listening to the words in the song, Michael began to put himself into the story of the song. A young man asking for help and falling in love seemed to fit their own scenario pretty well.

At least until the last verse.

 _"_ _One Friday night at a football game;  
The Lord's Prayer said and the anthem sang;  
And a man said,  
'Folks, would you bow your head for a list of local Vietnam dead.'_

 _Cryin' all alone under the stands  
Was a piccolo player in the marchin' band;  
And one name read, but nobody really cared,  
But a pretty little girl  
With a bow in her hair._

 _I cried;  
Never gonna hold the hand of another guy;  
Too young for him they told her;  
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier  
Our love will never end;  
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again;  
Never more to be alone when the letter says  
A soldier's comin' home."_

Victoria hummed the outro to the song, and – alongside the crackling of the fire – her voice was heavenly. Michael had no words to say afterwards, but he didn't want to say anything to begin with. To him, words weren't enough to describe Victoria's voice or _herself_ in general. He felt that there was an unspoken order for him to not speak while or after she was singing, and the only way to nullify it was for Victoria to prompt him.

"How was that?" She asked; her voice tired.

"The best there ever was," Michael replied drunk from her melody.

"You say that to everything."

"The best there will ever be?"

"It's still the same."

"The only one there ever could be?" With that, Victoria turned around and looked into her love's eyes. She gave him a tender kiss and smiled widely.

"I know you are, but what am I?" Seeing Michael's blank face made her laugh a little harder at her own joke than she intended.

"Not this bullshit again," he mumbeled.

"Remember when we used to say that all the time as kids?" She asked wiggling back into his arms.

"Yeah; I remember you saying that literally _all the time._ Compliments and jokes alike. Do you remember when I moved on from that phase?" He asked planting a kiss on her head.

"I remember you loved playing Pokemon until the 6th gra-"

"Please don't remind me, Tori. I cringe every night thinking about those times."

"Well at least we stuck with you," she said. Michael was suddenly reminded of the four of them protecting each other throughout their adolescent years.

"Right… when there were four of us- OW!" he let out when Victoria pinched his arm.

"I told you, Michael, don't think about it," Victoria reminded him. Ever since that fateful day, she has tried her best to get Michael to move on from the pain he felt. It worked for the most part, but sometimes he couldn't protect himself from triggered memories and train of thought.

"I know… I'm sorry. This is our night," he said while stroking her smooth thigh. "Oh, I'm sorry to bring it up, but Julian texted me saying we won Prom King and Queen."

"Really?! How did that happen?" She asked ecstatic from finding out.

"I'm not sure, but I'm betting that it had something to do with Julian and Andrew teaming up."

"You're still friend's with Andrew?"

"He comes in the room every so often. He's more Julian's friend than mine, but we're still cool."

"Wow… I wonder how _you-know-who_ feels about that," she asked.

"Word is she cried like a bitch," he stated plainly.

"Okay, when did you get these texts?" Victoria asked curiously.

"I read'em while you were sing- oh I probably shouldn't have told you that-YOW!" he blurted when he felt a hand gently but firmly grasp his jewels.

"I thought you were listening?" Victoria asked with a bubbly tone.

"I was I was I was! Please not the nethers!" He begged while kissing her head multiple times. What happened next was unpredictable to Michael. Victoria picked up his hand and placed it on her breast while she began pulsing her other hand on Michael's growing length.

"You want this don't you?" She asked seductively.

All Michael could do was mumble a weak 'uh-huh' while feeling the softness under his right hand.

"Then that'll be the price," she stated. In one motion, she removed her hand from his rod and grabbed both of his hands to lock them just around her stomach.

"Wait, the price- Oh I get it. God damn it. You're evil you know that?"

"Well if you tell me how precious my singing is to you, I may reconsider," she teased.

"I will… cherish your singing for the rest of my life?"

"Sounds more like a question than an answer."

"I will cherish your singing for the rest of my life."

"Too vague."

"Every time I sing, I'll think you."

"You haven't before?"

"You're singing means the world to me. It gets me through the day. It makes me feel better, welcome, and at peace. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world," he spoke from the heart. Victoria was caught between being honored and keeping him from his prize.

"Well… I gue-OH!" she moaned as Michael brushed his hand under her skirt.

"Now who's playing mean?" He whispered in her ear. With a wide grin, she turned over and straddled him while holding his hands above his head. He could easily overpower her in brute strength, but Victoria had a certain charm to her that could make Michael melt where he stood… or laid in this particular situation.

"How are you gonna get your prize now?" She asked him.

Michael wasn't too sure of many things with her positioning on him, but he was certain of one thing.

"Something tells me it's not just me that wants it." He was right. As Victoria sat on top of him, her breathing began to pick up and that _desirable_ sensation started to rise. She wanted it just as much as Michael did. On a blanket, next to a fire, in the middle of nowhere, and under the stars; it was the perfect night and mood to do so.

She bit her lip while weighing her options. She could hold off just a bit longer to tease him, or they can begin right away to make the most out of their time. Her train of thought came to an end when Michael reached his head up to kiss her. With that one gesture, all her thoughts went away and were replaced with a single desire.

"You know," Michael started, "I wasn't lying when I said I loved your singing. I like music a lot; I have ever since childhood. Hearing you sing is like bringing together the best of both worlds. It's why I came out here tonight."

Victoria wanted nothing more than to just have him ravage her, but she knew that, with the right mood, and once all is said and done, the experience would be better.

"Maybe we should do a duet," she suggested while breathing down his neck in a more than pleasurable way.

"Right now?" Victoria nibbled his ear.

"Of course not. But maybe later tonight. What song should we sing?" she asked before beginning to kiss his neck.

"Hmm," he mumbled as he thought.

"…"

"…AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOUU!" He screamed out to the stars eliciting a hearty laugh from Victoria. As much as she wanted him to continue, she couldn't hold in her desires anymore. She released her grasp on his hands and placed hers on his cheek while giving him a sensual kiss. The moment the opportunity arose, Michael's hands flew immediately to Victoria's rear.

As the two kissed, Michael pulled Victoria's dress over her head and placed it gently to the side where he followed up by casually throwing his shirt and trousers in the same place. The two enjoyed the night in fits of pleasure and lust in the warm, Arizona breeze with the moon watching over them.

* * *

 **[Present (R.121 Day 25)]**

 **{Michael's POV}**

I finished telling the two dingle-shits the story of the best girl that there ever was. To be honest, I was quite depressed after reliving all of those happy and sad events of my life. Sometimes, I was caught between wanting to forget those memories and not wanting to let go of them at all.

They say that telling a story of the past or reliving an event gives you a little closure for the past. I didn't feel a damn thing. The only thing that I felt was a bit of emptiness inside that I was sure would disappear after a few days of hunting and training.

 **"** **If you take away the vulgarity between you two, I think that you guys make a lovely pair of mates,"** Victoria complimented, not that it meant much.

 **"** **Indeed,"** said Mark, **"I hope that you return to your world one day so that you may see your destined one again. Perhaps, if you would allow it, I could come to see this world as well."**

"What?" I asked confused by what he said. Then it dawned upon me that I never told them the _true_ end to that story. Perhaps if I did then I would really get some closure, but reliving that would be a little too much. It might have been on the same level as Matthew's betrayal.

"Oh no, we're not… together anymore," I said carefully to avoid going into the real subject at hand.

 **"** **What? But I thought you were, what you humans call,** ** _engaged_** **to her?"** Victoria asked.

"Well, I _was_ engaged, but not to the Victoria of my world. It was to… someone I already- you know what; never mind. It's really not important…"

 **"** **Michael?"** Victoria asked, but I heard something else.

 _…_ _Michael?! Michael are you okay?_

 _…_ _MICHAEL HELP!  
_ "Yeah," I responded paying no heed to the voices of the past.

 **"** **If you need to rest, in an emotional sense, we're here to help you,"** Victoria said calmly while placing a palm on my leg.

It was the first time I heard her speak in such a way that reminded me of my Victoria. It sounded like she was, for lack of a better term, caring.

I opened my mouth to thank her, but the feeling of impending danger immediately took priority. I scanned the vicinity's aura to find multiple personnel surrounding us in the trees. Each looked to be armed with firearms and fully capable of killing us.

 _"_ _BATTLE DRILL 3 BRAVO!"_ I screamed to them via aura. For the past week, we've been working on 'battle drills' for just such an occasion like this one. Each drill so far revolved around what dangers I pick up through aura. 1-4 were the actual battle positions while Alpha and Bravo were code for pokemon and human respectively.

Immediately following my order, Victoria gathered her psychic energy to her horn in a bright light and summoned a future sight attack. To follow it up, she prepared her horn at the ready to unleash psychic blasts. I formed an aura-dagger that I'd been working on the past few days as well as a very-slightly condensed aura sphere. Mark – well – he just used _bide_ and got ready to run around like crazy if they started firing.

"I know you're here," I told them. "Come closer and keep your weapons down!" It took a while for them to listen, but soon enough they began to creep towards us. To my disappointment, their weapons were still at the ready to shoot us if they wanted to.

"PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN!" A powerful voice echoed through the trees. I felt something tugging at my aura from behind me, so I turned around.

It didn't take a genius to know that this guy was no ordinary person from his aura. It was blue, like mine, but he had some sort of distinct chest-plate that came to two points above his shoulders and two to his sides. In the center, his aura was concentrated so well that it was like looking into a flashlight.

 **"** **I never thought I would see a sight such as this,"** Mark told me with awe. I was particularly peeved by his 'admiration' for the figure walking to us.

"What are you talking about," I whispered.

 **"** **You can't see it through your aura?"** I was getting kind of pissed with all this beating around the bush.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS IT?!" I unintentionally blurted out.

What I got in response stopped my thought-process entirely

 **"** **Michael,"** Victoria said, **"That is an Aura Guardian."**

* * *

 **a/n**

 **Alright, so Michael meets another aura guardian for the first time. What does he expect? What is he thinking? What will happen our current trio?**

 **That'll come in time, but more importantly is what happened in the rest of this long chapter. In simple terms, it's just a high school love story between a guy and a gal but the guy gets brutally framed, attacked, and sent to another world several years after high school. As for what happened to the gal... you'll have to wait until the end of - I'll call it 'Season 1' - to find out.**

 **So with that, I bid yee farewell until September-Octoberish when I get back to the real world. Until then, stay strong, keep predicting, and stay youthful!**

 **Chapter 10: An Unspoken Creed (History Lesson 1)**


	11. Acquaintances

**Goddammit... That... was hell. Sorry everyone, I was kind of in a rut in while in between field exercises, schooling, and more training. I didn't really have much time to work on the story as much as I hoped too. I kinda got into a bit of depression and became demotivated, hence the change in the chapter's name.**

 **But don't worry, I wasn't wasting my time. I was also working on the plot of the story heavily as well as writing two other stories I'm planning on publishing sometime soon.**

 **Anyways, without further ado, the next chapter of the story of Michael Blake!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Acquaintances**

As I felt their circle beginning to tighten, I recalled the memory of Matthew's betrayal not so long ago. Sure, the uniforms were different, and the environment was definitely warmer than it was back then. Even so, I became rigid as the memories swarmed back to the images behind what I would call my eyesight.

 _Hello Michael… Ah, Killstreak… your father… I'm sorry… What do you see…_

 _…Goodbye… Michael…_

The supposed 'guardian' came forth with the shade of the tropics hiding his face.

"Stop right there!" I called out to him. He carried on as if he didn't hear me, but I had a way to get his attention. I fired an aura sphere at his feet and immediately formed a second one in case he continued. Fortunately, the man stopped with the sun's gaze meeting up to his neck. I still couldn't see his face.

"So the rumors were true," he spoke calmly. His voice was more defined up close. It had a familiar rasp, but I couldn't remember where I heard it before. I figured it might have been an old general I remember back in my army days, so I shoved it aside.

"What rumors?" I demanded from him. I felt his gaze piercing my soul from the shadows. He was definitely using his aura, but for what reason I did not know.

"I heard there was an aura guardian running through this area of Hoenn. I also heard he was accompanied by a couple of chimeri." I tensed at the word, but not as naturally as I would alone or with Melanie. This was an emotion I felt with the connection to Victoria.

 **"I abhor that word,"** Victoria spited.

 _{~~10 seconds~~}_

That impending danger sense hit me once again; this time giving me a feeling that I know when it would be coming.

'But what?' I asked myself.

"What are you here for?" I asked the man while gripping my aura-dagger tighter.

I heard a small grunt from him, but it could have easily been mistaken for a chuckle before he spoke, "I came for-"

Before he finished, Victoria's future sight came to fruition and exploded the ground surrounding the three of us. Without wasting a second, I rushed through the dust towards the other guardian and positioned the blade of my dagger on his throat. The sound of his grunts aiming their weapons echoed through the trees – I surely had their attention by that point.

"Why are you here?" I asked again.

"As I was about to say; I'm here for _you_ ," he said. Me? Before I could ask what he meant, an aura sphere had hit my stomach and pushed me down on my ass. My aura sphere and dagger dissipated in the pain, and I became dazed for a moment as the wind was knocked out of me. He took a step forward and his face was shown in the light. It was a face I could _never_ forget.

 _Well, well, well. What do we have here? The nation's most wanted man surrounded by the nation's most powerful soldiers led by me… Tell him Morty sent ya…_

My breath hitched when I realized who it was. They found me. _They_ fucking found me.

"Please relax; I'm not here to harm you," he said putting his hands up in an innocent gesture.

Like _hell_ I would believe that. I could feel my vision beginning to go red the longer I stared at him, but I couldn't look away. Looking away was a sign of fear or respect; two things I never felt for that man. On the contrary, I guess you could say I was afraid by the way I was reacting to him, but I refused to show that side of me.

Not now, not _ever._

"Who sent you?" I asked with a shaking rage. Morty simply looked at me with pity. "Who sent you?! What do you want from me?!" I yelled.

"An old friend asked me to find you. Said you were headed to Fortree for a sort of tournament."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged. "What's his name?"

"That's none of your concern-"

"I'm pretty sure if someone sent you to find me that it is my concern you twat," I replied. Morty frowned and a look of seriousness took over his face.

"I could sense that you're angry."

"I don't think you need aura to see-"

"Would you just let me finish a single sentence!" he yelled. I formed a couple of aura spheres in my hands as his patience wore thin. I heard a couple of his men laughing at him which brought a smile to my face. Unfortunately, it also brought an excess of confidence.

"No, and I'm not gonna fucking stand by while you plan to kill me, Morty," I let out. His eyes twitched and he turned his head slightly to the side as if he was trying to hear me.

"What did you call me?"

"Quit playing games!" I shouted while firing both my aura spheres.

"Men! Stand down!" he yelled while dodging my attacks. I unsheathed my knife from my belt loop below my back. I came forward firing two more aura spheres for distraction from the knife. He dodged those two as well and took out his own knife from his boot.

"Stop this!" he tried ordering me, but I refused to let up. I kept coming at him with aura spheres and slashes until, at last, our blades met in a knife fight. This old guy was definitely skilled in kickboxing and maybe wrestling too; typical for a special forces kind of guy.

Now the bastard had aura – just in case I needed another thorn in my side. Luckily for me, I have a good month of experience on him.

 **"Michael, what do you want us to do?"** Victoria asked.

 _"Make sure his men don't interfere,"_ I told her. My vision became a little redder before I continued, _"Kill'em if you have to."_

 **"Guardian… isn't that a little… dark?"** Mark asked. For some reason, I became infuriated by his judgement.

"You haven't seen dark. If you want to play the good guys, then I suggest you fucking leave!" I heard myself say.

"Dear Arceus…" Morty whispered. I formed an aura sphere and began rapid-firing at him.

"You can pray to your god all you want! When I'm done with you'll be meeting with mine!"

"Guardian! Calm your mind!" He yelled while forming his own aura sphere. I tried swiping it away, but he was too fast and rolled to the side. The immediate opening stole my balance and I fell – only becoming angrier in the process.

"Aggh! WHO SENT YOU!" I roared with fury. At the last moment, I saw him fire his aura sphere directly at my face. Time slowed as I watch the so-called purity that was aura make its way to me.

 _Grab it,_ I felt a voice say inside me. I followed its instructions blindly and swiped my hand out in front of me to steal his aura sphere. With the other hand I fired my own at him. It hit him dead-center in his chest and he was knocked to the ground.

I heard a small explosion behind me and a couple of shouts; I figured it was Victoria trying to prevent his men from interfering like I asked.

"Fall back!" Morty commanded to his team. Without question, they obeyed his order and fled the scene as fast as they could. I planned to stop them, but later – I had something better to finish first. I surged my aura with Morty's – mixing the two in what I would call a deathly abomination – and made a sword with little effort. It had to be my red state giving me this desirable power.

I loved it. I truly enjoyed the feeling of dominance I had over another person, and a general _equal_ to me at that. Now, if only I could get to bring out the fear through his eyes.

Morty recovered to his feet, but not for long. I followed through with an aura sphere to knock him back down again and again as I advanced towards him. Seeing no other option to escape, he resorted to firing aura spheres at me. With each one, time slowed to allow me to absorb them into my sword – making it stronger with each orb.

By the time I approached his feet, he was a wheezing wreck – his old age had betrayed him in his time of need. He should have given up on me when he had the chance.

Now, I return to him the pain he caused me.

"Thank you Morty. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to repay you for what you've given me," I muttered with power oozing from my lips.

Strange though, he showed no fear or trace of imminent death. Instead, he looked at me with pity in his eyes. "You're not very wise, are you?" he questioned.

"There is no need for wisdom, when you have **_power like this!"_** I once again heard myself say.

 **"Michael!"** One of my companions called out to me. I couldn't figure out which one it was for the life of me. At this point, everything around me drowned out and was replaced with a different voice.

 _Do it,_ it said repeatedly. I smiled as I raised the sword up. Morty continued to stay still without a care in the world, but he kept his gaze on mine.

"I'll remember your sacrifice in aiding this world's future," I taunted. Finally, he elicited a reaction, which in turn made my smile wider.

 ** _"LONG LIVE ALEXANDER!"_** The voice in my head and my own spoke as one; though at the time, I couldn't remember what it is I said. I could only remember the fear in his eyes as my sword plunged into his heart…

…and was absorbed throughout his body.

"What?" I questioned in disbelief. In my time of weakness, Morty took advantage of the situation and pounced upwards with newfound strength. He was now on top of me with his hands placed at the sides of my head.

A strange feeling surged throughout my body – one that was mixed with ease and pain.

I felt this before. One time, long before any of this ever happened, but I did not know where.

 _'…You can't get rid of us, it is far too late for that. However, I can suppress us enough to allow him to live normally…'_ a child's voice echoed in my head while I screamed

"CALM YOUR MIND!" Morty yelled as he continued his torture. However, the further he continued, the less it felt like torture, and the more it resembled a form of inner peace.

The entire phenomenon lasted about 10 seconds before he fell off and lay there at my side. Both of us were breathing heavily, but I felt renewed in a sense. I noticed that my red state had ceased and I was back to being regular old Michael. Just as that part of me disappeared, so did my desire to kill him, or anyone for that matter.

In fact, I didn't feel like doing anything. I felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier as exhaustion took over me.

"You goddamned bastard…" I barely whispered before I became engulfed in darkness.

* * *

"AGGHH!" I screamed as I woke up from my place on a bed in the middle of night.

"Michael? Michael!" a worried voice called out to me. I turned to my left to find Melanie at the foot of my bed.

"Melanie?!" I asked while confused with worry. Actually, it was more of a sodomizing fear that I felt. "Where am I? What day is it?!" I screamed.

"Michael, calm down! We're in Lilycove!" she yelled. Lilycove?

"No… No that's not right. That _can't_ be right!" I spoke to myself. It couldn't have been. I spent about a month in the tropics of Hoenn with Victoria and Mark. There was no _fucking_ way that was a dream.

"Dumbass," a new voice spoke. This one was masculine in the way a young adult male's voice would be. I turned to look behind Melanie, but only saw a sleeping Chance and Riolu looking at me. "What the fuck are you looking at?" He spoke.

He spoke. He spoke by moving his lips.

"Michael, what's wrong?" Melanie asked. When I went to look at her, I was paralyzed by what I saw. One of her eyes were gouged out completely and her jaw was completely ripped off. Blood dripped from her flaccid tongue as she spoke, but I couldn't hear her words. The more I looked at her, the more I realized there was much more of her mutilated than I thought. Her neck had a gash about an inch in thickness and she was missing her right arm.

I wanted to scream from seeing this _thing_ in front of me, but nothing would come out of my mouth – or perhaps I just couldn't hear it from the horror.

"Michael?" I heard Victoria's voice. I turned to my right to see Morty shoving a sword made of aura into her neck – staining her white fur with blood. I could only watch as he repeated his actions again, and again, and again. Finally, he turned his head and looked me with a smile that could frighten a woman walking alone at night.

"Once again, you've failed your family," he spoke darkly. As he said that, multiple dark figures began to take form behind him. First there was one, then three, then 9. Soon enough, there were 39 figures standing behind him; each was pitch black with eyes as red as a blood moon.

I heard a gust of wind outside, and – with no premonition at all – the roof above our heads was violently blown away bringing light to Morty and the 39 figures behind him. The fear in my heart now multiplied as I gazed upon all those I have failed in the past. They all looked at me with the same smile as Morty, who spoke once again in light of the situation.

"It seems our encounter has once again been interrupted. I'll be seeing you soon." I felt a wave of unexplainable darkness wash over me; it's source deriving from above my head. I was able to look up at the dark-blue, night sky to see a pitch-black shadow looming over me. I gazed into its eyes, all the while it gazed back, to see a deep blue that overtook my senses. With a flash of those blue eyes, everything became dark.

 _"We are closer than you think… Michael."_

* * *

"AGGH!" I screamed as I woke up once again in a cold sweat. This time, I lay on the ground with a blanket over me. The night was silent – save for the crackling of a campfire a few meters away. When I confirmed that I could move and breathe normally again, I breathed a sigh of relief into the night.

"Thank God… Just a nightmare," I muttered.

"Just a nightmare?" a voice asked. More specifically…

"AHH! MORTY!" I yelled jumping up into a battle-ready position. Morty, who was sitting down eating what appeared to be a can of beans, put his hands up in reassurance.

"It's alright. I'm not here to kill you. Your companions would probably get to me first," he said softly. I looked around the area with my aura vision to see Victoria sleeping not so far away from me while Mark hung from a tree with his… _stem._ There were plenty of bugs and sleeping birds around, but there was no immediate danger in the vicinity.

"And what's with you calling me Morty?" he asked. I turned back to him noticing the finer details. His uniform coat was removed and hanging off of a tree branch and his FLC1 was next to his feet. I noticed a finely-defined scar running down his left arm while he stared at me.

"Isn't that your name? You told me it on the day we met," I reminded him.

"Did we meet before this?" He asked confused. "Sorry if it's my old age getting to me, but I don't seem to remember encountering you-" I shot an aura sphere at his meal, spilling his beans all over the ground, to get his attention. "Maybe we got off to a bad start earlier," he mentioned.

"Said the pot to the kettle."

 **"Mmhm… Michael? You're awake?"** a groggy Victoria resonated in my head. I ignored her for the time being; I needed all of my attention on _him._

"My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Charles Miyamoto," he said. Charles; what a strange name for someone with an ugly mug like his, but it fit a lot better than Morty.

He stuck his hand out for what I thought would be a regular handshake, but when I went to grab it hesitantly, he instead gripped my forearm – coercing my hand to grip his in a Roman handshake.

"Blake…" I told him.

"Just _Blake?"_

"For now. That's all that should matter between two soldiers, right?" He smiled, then laughed heartily as he went to sit back down.

"So you're a warrior too, eh?" he asked.

"You should know."

He sighed. "Look, I don't who you're confusing me with, but trust me: I'm not that person. I guarantee that I've never seen you before in my life."

Not Morty, huh? I guess I would just have to remain suspicious of him.

"Hopefully you're not lying," I replied while petting Victoria who came to lie down next to me. "Where's the rest of your men?" I asked.

"Their back at our rally point. We should meet them again sometime tomorrow," he said while pulling out a sleeping bag from his ruck.

We?

"What do you mean we?" I asked.

"You forgot already? I told you: I came here for you."

 **"Relax, Michael,"** Victoria said, sensing my unease.

"You never really explained."

"You never gave me the chance."

"What was I supposed to do? The first guardian I've ever seen, that looks like someone I _really_ want to kill, shows up with a platoon of soldiers to find _me._ What would you do in-"

"I'm the first guardian you've seen? Where were you raised?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Just interrupt me; that's how you make friends."

"No, I mean… How can I be the first guardian you've ever seen?"

I realized then that he would not stop asking questions. The fact that he had aura to detect my own would make it near-impossible to lie to him. Only one option – that I could feasibly come up with at the time – remained.

"Alright, Charles. Listen up.

[One Flashback Later…]

"… And that's when your bitch-ass showed up," I said, finishing my hour and a half tale of how I wound up with this guy. I made sure to omit any and all mentions of names belonging to certain people or dragons that I've met. "Any questions?"

"Several."

"Any questions that I can actually answer without using extensive logic?"

"Alright, just one."

"Spill it."

"What is the extent of your power so far?" He asked as he stirred the fire.

"Hmmm. I guess just aura spheres, weapons, and vision. Oh, and I also get this strange feeling of incoming danger whenever it's about to happen," I recapped. I remembered just before our battle how I knew just how much time was left before anything happened. "The last time I had it, though, I think I knew exactly how much time I had before something happened."

"I see," the older man mumbled.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You said you've had this power for about a month or so, right?" I nodded. "Well… it doesn't make any sense…"

"How so?"

"You have about as much talent in aura as I have," he said. I could feel a bit of a jealous vibe coming from him.

"I don't see why that-"

"I've been _training_ my ability for 30 years. Most guardians train their entire lives just to get where you and I are," he said seriously. I took a moment to think about it. He did seem surprised a couple of times while we fought. Was I really that talented?

Was it a fluke? I wondered if it had to do with my red state; if that was the underlying cause. There was no way that someone training for that long could be at the same level I was.

"It could be the serum," I suggested. "Assuming that you received your power genetically, I figure it's something that wears off in intensity over many generations. I received a direct injection of that power, so maybe – being the first one to have it in my family tree – I have the full effects of it."

"…That sounds about right… There are legends of guardians with untold power in our earliest era. Maybe there's some sort of connection between Dialga's gift and your serum," he suggested. I agreed, but why does the serum have as much power as… wait…

"Dialga?" I asked. I've never heard of the guy, and the old man laughed at my situation.

"I'm sorry; it must have slipped my mind that you've never heard of Dialga," he said. His somewhat jolly expression wavered as his eyes went downcast. "After all, there's not that much belief in him in this day in age."

"What do you mean? Is he some sort of legend?"

 **"You don't know of the Great Dialga, Guardian?"** Mark asked as he waddled up behind me.

"I don't expect him to; from what he's told me, I don't believe he's been here that long to hear about Dialga. Blake," he directed towards me, "Dialga isn't just a legend. He's a _god._

"A god?" I asked skeptically.

"The God of Time, to be exact. In order for you to get the full grasp of the concept, I have to start at the beginning."

"The beginning of _time,_ I imagine?"

"Correct."

* * *

 _In the beginning, the universe was a black swirl of chaos in which nothing could exist. From deep within these shadows, an egg appeared. What hatched from that egg was an entity so powerful that its birth created the universe. The sun, constellations, and worlds were formed as a natural occurrence from his birth after many millennia._

 _This entity was named_ _ **Arceus**_ _, meaning_ _ **The First**_ _. He had only one power, but it was that ability that made him so strong. He could_ _ **create life.**_ _As the universe formed itself, he spent this time learning about his power and how the natural laws of the universe worked._

 _Even though this universe was thriving with beauty,_ _ **Chaos**_ _still existed. This Chaos created havoc among the stars and warped time and space into its own liking. In other words, there were patches in the universe that had neither time nor space, yet lived with form._

 _Arceus did not like this, and sought to stop it by creating two beings:_ _ **Dialga and Palkia.**_ _He made Dialga to govern_ _ **Time**_ _, and Palkia to govern_ _ **Space**_ _. Upon their creation, he ordered them to search throughout the universe and fix these_ _ **rifts**_ _as he saw accordingly._

 _However, with each rift that was destroyed, a new one appeared. Arceus saw this and became furious. In his rage, he unknowingly created a third being,_ _ **Giratina.**_ _After seeing the product of his rage, Arceus had an idea. He ordered Giratina to take all the rifts in space with him to another dimension. Arceus gave him authority over this dimension and named it_ _ **distortion.**_

 _With the universe free of these rifts, Arceus was lost with purpose. He spent his time with conversation between his first two creations. As they spoke, an idea came to him; one that filled his heart with possibility. He ordered Dialga and Palkia to travel through time and space in search of a perfect world. One that could harbor a new creation of his:_ _ **Beasts.**_

 _Dialga returned to Arceus with news of a world that could hold life for millennia. Dialga took Arceus to this world and showed him the beauty of it. Arceus was pleased with the structure of this world – especially the balance of its three elements:_ _ **Air, Earth, and Water.**_ _However, these elements, while equal in power and quantity, were unstable. He could not create ample life in these conditions, so he decided to create beings that would govern these elements._

 _These_ _ **titans**_ _were known as_ _ **Kyogre,**_ _of the sea,_ _ **Groudon,**_ _of the land,_ _ **and Rayquaza,**_ _of the sky. He ordered the three of them to control each of their respective elements to create a naturally peaceful world. However, there was a problem. With Rayquaza settling the wind, the water could not be carried to land to feed the vegetation. With Kyogre forcing water to go to land, the earth began to erode and combine within the water. With Groudon making more land, the volcanoes he activated created fumes which poisoned the air._

 _Arceus saw this and became displeased, but not angry. He ordered Rayquaza to calm most of the atmosphere, but to leave a few seasonal winds to carry water to land. This solved the problem rather quickly, so Arceus decided it was finally time to create his most beautiful creation._

 _The first species he created were the_ _ **dragons.**_ _He gave them power equal to his first six creations and let them roam free among the planet. These beasts were mighty and raw with power. So much that they posed a threat to Arceus' life. He quickly eradicated this species and thought of a new one to create._

 _He spent several thousand years making test species, but each one died as they could not survive the planet's conditions with the low power granted to them. Arceus became frustrated with himself and smashed the planet with one of his many arms. The force of this collision nearly destroyed the planet he wanted to use for his creations. Seeking to fix this, he granted more power to Kyogre and Groudon to rearrange the land and sea to reduce the collateral of his mistake._

 _It had worked, and after several thousand years, the planet was back in its original state. He was eager to create life, but he still did not have the knowledge to create a species that could live forever with him._

 _Another idea had come to him, and he went to create another species. He gave this one enough power to live forever, but also granted it knowledge and the ability to create life themselves. He called this species_ _ **Mew.**_ _He ordered the Mew to expand across the world and create life that could live with these conditions._

 _The Mew spent a relatively short time creating species before one of them, the_ _ **First Mew,**_ _informed Arceus that a species with low power could not live forever on this planet. However, a species could thrive eternally if they had an_ _ **Aura,**_ _a soul. Arceus liked this, and gave power to the Mew to give aura to their creations. Arceus knew that these beasts would physically die after a short time, so he began to create a world in another dimension to hold all of these souls after they departed their bodies._

 _As he did this, the Mew continued to create beasts in the image of Arceus' first creations. Their first creations were the ocean-dwellers. They were the easiest to create in order to abide by the laws of nature. Next were the land-dwellers. These were a little bit harder, but the Mew were able to create a diverse community of species among the land. Next was the sky. They based their form off of Rayquaza, but without the power to fly in that shape, they fell to the ground and sea and lived there. Eventually, they were able to create a species of beasts with wings to soar among the air._

 _When Arceus had returned, he was very pleased with the Mew's work. He allowed them to enjoy their time on this planet, which he had come to call_ _ **'Earth',**_ _to be in the company of their creation. Time passed and beasts birthed and died. Eventually, one beast began to show prowess above all other species. This was the_ _ **Human**_ _species. Arceus had been watching them for a while, but became intrigued when they invented a fourth element:_ _ **Fire.**_

 _With no one to guide them in life, they were able to learn, adapt, and thrive faster and better than all the rest. This was when Arceus began to coexist with the humans. He presented them tricks and miracles while the humans gave him offerings in return. Everything was peaceful for a long time._

 _Meanwhile, Giratina was trapped in distortion from his father's orders. He watched furiously as Arceus enjoyed the human's presence, and he became jealous. That was when Giratina made his first appearance to the humans, whichhad gone unknown to Arceus. Giratina filled the humans' heads with knowledge, wisdom, and also lies. He had told them that if they worshipped him instead of Arceus, he would provide them with power above the rest of their species._

 _The humans took a liking to this idea, and began to worship Giratina. He appreciated their loyalty, and he imbued them with a power to become…_

* * *

"I'm sorry, but can we skip ahead to where this Dialga fucker comes into play?" I interrupted. It was a good tale, but I've heard my fair share of mythology. I've had my fair share of doubt.

"Oh, I apologize for that. We guardians are trained to remember our history like we've lived it before. Anyways, during a time of great need, Arceus, Palkia, and Dialga asked the humans to help them. To those that accepted, the gift of aura was bestowed upon them. Those that were imbued with the blood of Dialga were called Temporalists. You and I both Temporalists."

"Let's not forget the fact that you and I received our power separately," I tried to remind him. He chuckled lightly.

"That's right. However, it does bring a question to mind."

"What question?"

"Where does _our_ ability come from – that of my village?"

"Didn't you say it was a trait passed down for generations?"

"That is what we're taught at a very young age. However, there are those who tend to question the things we were taught – I am one of those individuals," he said. I could see clearly that he was having doubts in his belief, but his face and aura projected two different emotions. His eyes were downcast as if he felt regret, but I detected traces of excitement and curiosity in his aura – it was as if he wanted to believe in something more practical like my situation.

"Moving on from that, what exactly entails being a 'Temporalist'?" I asked as I felt a pit in my stomach beginning to vibrate.

"In my opinion," he began, "it is really only a title. Same for the Distortionists, the Dimensionists and the…" he paused after looking at, what I would call, my disinterested face. "Alright… In terms of power and ability, Temporalists are more time-oriented – hence the name. While all aura guardians have equal ability types, their intensities differ. Our 'foresight' detects dangerous events that are about to happen to us; whereas a Dimensionalist's foresight detects danger within a certain vicinity radius. In aura vision, we are able to see the aura traces of organisms that have been to a certain area long ago. For example, if you are experienced enough in aura detection, you could be able to see a linoone's aura print for several days after it had left the area-"

"Kind of like a level-up?" I interrupted.

"Exactly like a level… what?" he asked in confusion to my reference.

"If I train enough with my… gift, I could demonstrate more powerful… techniques, I would say?" I asked with hope in my eyes. Charles looked almost baffled for a second before he erupted into laughter. "What the fuck is so funny?" I asked with thinning patience.

"I'm sorry," he said in between his fits, "I didn't mean to stray you."

"What do you mean?" I asked wondering what joke he was trying to pull. He motioned for a second to catch his breath and, out of annoyance, I flicked a small aura sphere into his side.

"Alright, alright; I assume you were wondering about my description on aura vision?" I nodded and he resumed, "I do apologize but that is a lost art. In fact, it's not even that – it's more of a myth than anything. Did it exist generations ago? Perhaps, but now? No – that's preposterous," he dissed while shaking his head passionately.

"Well, maybe I could do it – who knows?" I suggested honestly to which he laughed even harder.

"You?! A guardian whose discovered his gift for a couple of months? Not even?" His expression took a serious turn and he looked at me with scolding eyes. "It takes months for an initially-realized guardian to detect aura punctually. It takes longer for them to create their first aura sphere. It takes years of training for one to conjure up an aura sphere worthy of being called an attack. Yet, _you_ are interested in the methods of old? The myths? The _legends_? That's all they are! Implantation, separation, absorption, mimicry, _detecting the future?!_ THEY ARE ALL FALSE! THEY DON'T EXIST!" He yelled out into the night.

His aura had flared violently like an out-of-control fire, but I remained calm. I felt no need for worry or to defend myself – unlike Mark and Victoria. Both had woken from their little nap and prepared to fight alongside me if they needed to, but I waved them off.

Charles panted heavily and sat back down. He grabbed his canteen and poured its entire contents into his mouth as if he had been stranded in the desert for weeks.

"…I'm sorry. One of the costs of having this ability is the amplification of emotions." I figured that along the way. "It's just… for a long time I've wanted to believe that I could be the difference. I believed that I could be the one to make myth a reality… It cost me dearly," he paused in what I knew were some painful flashbacks. I felt a bit of worry build up in Victoria and I scuffed the fur on her head to ease her.

"Ever since then, I have wanted nothing to do with those legends," he spoke pitifully. I felt bad for him, but that was in the back of my mind. Everyone goes through that phase. Everyone wants to be a superhero or in a position of power. Maybe they want to help the world, but as time goes on those ambitions become weaker and weaker until complacency takes over and they settle for the nearest thing they can hold on to.

Luckily for me, I learned that at a very young age, and _that_ is what strengthens me now.

"Bullshit," I called out to him.

"What?"

"I said 'bullshit'. You said it took years for a guardian to make a physical aura sphere, yet here I am firing multiple at a time," I called him out. I knew he was telling the truth, but that was only his vantage point of the fact.

"Yes, but you were an unnaturally-realized guardian-"

"Natural or not, I was still able to do it. You know; I had a saying back in my hometown: 'the only thing that is impossible is believing excuses,'" I scolded angrily. I couldn't count how many times I've given this speech before.

"You think it's an excuse?" he asked with his voice rising. "I've tried for _years_ to perfect the methods of old – _they do not work._ "

"Obviously your using the wrong methods then – look… what I'm attempting to get at here, is that maybe we're both going about things the wrong way. I don't know…" I trailed off.

 **"Perhaps the two of you could train together,"** Victoria suggested. I had already thought about that, and the thought of doing so sent an ominous chill down my spine.

 **"I agree with the miss,"** Mark added, **"He might not have perfected these 'legendary techniques', but maybe** ** _you_** **can, guardian."**

"What are they saying?" Charles asked.

"You can't understand them? I thought you understood Mark perfectly earlier." I responded curiously.

"Guardians can only interpret the organisms in which they have made bonds with. It was more of a prediction of what Mark had said rather than an actual interpretation. I only have a bond with my friend, Oculus." I nodded in understanding, but became interested in this friend of his. If it was a beast, I'd want to know what it was to expand my knowledge.

"Oculus?" I asked with one goal in mind.

"Oh I'm sorry, I don't believe the two of you've met before. Oculus, reveal yourself please," he called into the wind. Another chill went down my spine and my mind was flooded with an intent to kill; yet, I had no idea what to expect. My foresight hadn't come to me either.

As if forming from thin air, a black smoke swirled between Charles and I. Within seconds, a pokemon stood in front of me with all of its 4-foot-tall glory, but I had definitely seen this pokemon before. Once in a recent nightmare I had.

The bandages, the shadow, and the singular, red eye that penetrated my very existence - it was a dusclops.

"Blake, meet – what in distortion?!" He shouted once I released an aura sphere in the dusclops' general direction.

 **"Michael, stop!"** Victoria pleaded while stepping in front of me. Her fur appeared to be a redder than before, but was not altered by the light of the fire. Meaning: my red state was beginning to ascend.

I turned away from the scene walked towards the nearest tree. In an attempt to calm myself down, I charged my arm with aura, placed my palm on the bark, and released all of the energy I could. The end result was pain for my arm and a good chunk of the tree blown off.

"You saw it too – in the dream, right?" I asked Victoria.

 **"Yes, but he is an ally,"** she tried reassuring me.

"Are you alright Blake?" Charles asked me. I went to look back at the group, but seeing the dusclops only made my unease worsen.

"Put that thing away," I requested as calmly as I could.

"Oculus, conceal yourself please," I heard him ask the ghost. After hearing an eerie, groan-like whisper, I turned around; thankful that it was gone.

"This does bring up another point: your regression state," Charles mentioned, referring to what I called the red state. "You need to learn how to control it."

"And how do you suppose I do that?" I asked as I reclaimed my seat.

"The simplest method is meditation. Learn how to bring it out, and then suppress it as soon as you can. The most difficult method is to remove your sense of emotion."

"The fuck does emotion have to do with that?" I asked with doubt.

"As you may already be aware, aura ability his highly synchronized with your emotional stability. If you can control the emanation of your emotions, you can control your aura much more proficiently."

"And, since this isn't fantasy land, if I can't control my emotions?" I asked.

"Then your aura will control you. Simply speaking, you will become a sole vessel to carry the gene. Everything you do is only in regards to self-defense and preservation. If a pinecone falls near you, you will destroy every tree in a half-mile radius." I nodded in understanding. "However, that is only in extreme cases. You're young, so you should be able to learn to control yourself without risking too much harm to your surroundings."

Emotion was the skeleton key; that's what I got out of this. As long as I didn't feel an emotion too strongly, I could be free of the red state.

"Was there anything else I did that I should know about? It was all kind of a blur," I asked honestly as I rubbed the back of my head.

 **"Michael,"** Victoria intercepted.

"Yes?"

 **"The sun is rising,"** she stated. I looked up and realized that dawn was upon us. As I stared at the Big Orange Blob ascending into the sky over the horizon, I thought back to Melanie. The brightness of its golden shine reminded me of how she was when we first met. I was reminded of that moment in which she became my first aura-bond. I chuckled lightly thinking what would have gone through her head when she realized I had left that hotel without saying a word.

I still felt her aura inside of me, strangely enough. Both Melanie's and Chance's aura swirled inside mine along with Victoria's and Mark's in a concoction of familial reminiscence…

God, that sounded disgusting.

* * *

[Hours Earlier]

Charles laid Michael down on a soft patch of grass for him to rest on. Reading his aura, he detected no physical injuries of any kind. With his analysis done, he propped himself against a tree and began to rest himself. As he did so, both Victoria and Mark walked up to him together.

"It's nice to see you again, Victoria," he greeted.

 **"It's been too long,"** she replied with a bow.

 **"You know this man?"** Mark asked her with uncertainty in her character.

 **"Mark, go and keep an eye on our master, ensure no harm comes to him,"** Victoria ordered sternly. **"And if you think about listening in on a private conversation between two acquaintances, I will make a bowl out of the dome on your head."**

Mark looked at her with incredible doubt which Victoria noticed.

 **"You can trust me,"** she tried assuring him.

 **"I hope our master can too."**

As he hopped away from the two acquaintances, Victoria took a seat and stared at Charles.

 **"What are you doing here? Why did you attack him?"** she asked calmly.

"I received word that a strange guardian was roaming through these woods," he responded.

 **"And?"**

"… _I thought I had taken care of him already_ …"

 **a/n**

 **What? Who really is this guy? How does he know Victoria? What will Michael do if he finds out?**

 **Anyways, no doubt this chapter was a lot shorter than most. I'm still working on what events I want to place where. That and the two other stories I'm working on. What do you guys think? Should I publish them now? They'll definitely be on the low priority list, but they are crucial for the grand scheme of things. Or should I publish them after Michael Blake's story is done? Just for context, one is an Advanced Generation story based on Alpha Sapphire, and the other is an original piece set some time before said mentioned story.**

 **Next, feel free to ask any questions for parts you guys don't quite get. I have a bad habit of moving fast in the story to a point where even I can't keep up exactly. Understand that I'm starting to add a lot of information that will be important later on. We're starting to go from a small timeline to a large map (excuse the bad metaphor). The grand scheme of what I'm trying to do is (in my mind) complex and requires a lot of extra information and integral bits and pieces that will expand the story to a broader front. So ask questions as you see fit.**

 **Also, please review your general comments, constructive criticism, and/or compliments on the story to help out a promising writer. It's your choice, but feed back really helps me with motivation and editing.**

 **Until next time!**

 **Next Chapter... TBD**

 **BTW: Re:Zero is amazing!**


	12. History Of Guardians Part 1: Golden Age

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

* * *

 **...History of Guardians: Golden Age  
~Professor Saladin Blackthorn, 6962 P.W.**

Centuries after the War of Union, the world flourished with new-age ideas and possibility. The introduction of Aura to the human race from the deities of reality1 was, in fact, the key to this era of social and economic success. Originally the Million Messengers2, the population of Aura Guardians flourished, exceeding half of the world's population by 202 Post-War (P.W.). With a greater sector of the population containing the Aura genome, the regions of the world were encouraged to adapt into a state of peace and harmony.

While the era before the War of Union (O.E.) held governments of leaders and royalty, the smooth cohesion of aura into the world of politics created an anarchic society in which no single person needed government to guarantee their security. For with the uprising of citizens with aura, what need of a third-party protector was there? For example, in 100 O.E., Governments large and small required an army to not only protect from the invasion of outsiders, but also protect from the unfavorably uprising of the ordinary citizen. By 350 P.W., every man and woman with aura was capable of protecting themselves from harm of anyone.

However, this brings forth the question of human interaction. Why would this era not require the use of government in general? To understand this, one would have to look inside the capabilities of an average aura Guardian. A greater ability in strength, agility, and dexterity are a sum of the physical attributes all aura Guardians hold. But what about their mental aspects? With no Guardians remaining in the modern world, it is almost impossible for us to interpret what occurs in their minds.

For this, we would have to look into accounts from the era itself. A journal entry from Samuel Tsonev in the time between the Golden Age and the 2nd Era P.W. portrays the subconscious abilities of an aura Guardian.

 _"…I felt as if I knew everything around me. The trees had minds of their own; they were happy. With every step I took in the plains of Rusche, the blades of grass near my feet expressed a feeling of nervousness and negative emotions. It was almost like I could read their minds…_

 _…as with vegetation, reading the aura of humans was an exhilarating experience. Even with my eyes closed, I could differentiate the emotions of a sad child 5 meters behind me from a happy adult to my left. It is useful above anything we have ever grasped in history – in science. It's one thing to wear a mask above your problems, it's another to remove someone else's…_

 _...I was almost robbed in the Norm village today. A young adult of a brown complexion ran up to me in an attempt to grab my bag. If I hadn't sensed his presence and ill will 10 seconds before hand… well, he would be too weak to fight me anyways. I disowned to find my place in the world, and attained a mission to cure every Norm of their backwards lifestyle – to show them the beauty of Aura. I'm beginning to think they don't deserve it after all…_

 _… It felt amazing to be inside Guardian land after staying in those ratholes. I now have a much better appreciation for the communication we have as equals. In fact, Guardians are so superior that the elite don't even need to have a verbal conversation with each other. Being able to know what your brothers and sisters want is, after all, a necessity to live in this Golden Age. That is why we need no government; we all speak the same, live the same, and believe the same._

Assuming that every aura Guardian contains the same ability to read the emotions of one another, it would make sense that a government in a society of true equals was no longer necessary. However, they knew from the past that no large state could handle an anarchy of millions. In an advance to avoid this, aura Guardians subconsciously formed small regions of villages. Of course, the term 'village' back then would equate to the modern day's term of metropolis.

These anarchic regions found entertainment in the abilities they shared. Creating a drama was easier when the actor could create props in the palm in his hand. Music was much more appreciated for being the one art that never lost its luster after the war. Sports were crafted in light of the hard times that had passed. So many sports and games were created with the use of this ability that an event was held every five years known as 'The Aurum.' The Aurum was peculiar in that it's not only offered Guardians with entertainment, but also ranking. With large events, money had to follow.

The economy of this anarchy was, surprisingly, steady. Currency flowed from collector, to hunter, to smith, to miner, to clothier, to general salesman, to taxidermist, back to collector. Banks were practically useless since these Guardians carried inscribed tablets displaying how much currency remained with them. It was an early system of credit that worked almost flawlessly since trust was easily identified in Guardian society. However, even without currency on hand, Guardians could pay with labor – quests of some sorts given to the buyer to fulfill. These 'bounties' were mostly on the capture of a troublesome, ancient pokemon, or sometimes on a regular human – or Norm – who sought harm on the Guardians.

Of course, life wasn't always perfect in this golden age. There was still struggle between classes – an after-effect from before the time of Aura. Even with the similarities in power, these Guardians still shared the trait of segregation with their non-aura counterparts; though, not as severe. Four lineages were formed to give their respects to the deities in which those Guardians received power from. These deities including Arceus, Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina. Unlike normal humans, the Guardians respected the differing opinions and coexisted with jest towards their rivals, especially with the Aurum to ease their tensions.

But that leaves the placement of humans without the genome; what about them? Several accounts of ancient Guardians portray the image of these 'Norms' as humans of low intelligence, poor manners, and ill-will. According to the elite of the Guardians, Norms needed a form of 'saving.' They needed to be persuaded, or, in some cases, forced, to convert to this new way of life, of thinking and believing. The answer to this was a sacred ritual the guardians performed called 'Awakening.'

In order to Awaken a Norm into a Guardian, Five Elites, whose status were determined by the Aurum ranking, made offerings to their preferred deity and waited four days for answer. Upon receiving an answer, these elites would then take the candidate into a chamber and, behind closed doors, converted them there. The latter part of the ritual was such a well-kept secret, in fact, that there are no accounts of what happened inside such a chamber. As of current, the only clue us as a society has of this ritual is a series of ruins in central Johto, Indigo.

[1. The Deities of Reality include Dialga, Deity of Time, Palkia, Deity of Space, and Arceus, Deity of Life]  
[2. The Million Messengers, as passed down through legend, were the first Aura Guardians that walked the earth. Specifically chosen by the Deities of reality, these Guardians were imbued with power capable of neutralizing Giratina's army.]

 **History of Guardians: The Siege…**


	13. Losing

**a/n Sorry everyone. I've hit a bit of a rut and writer's block has taken its toll on me.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Losing**

'A forest.'

 _20 meters until concealment._

'A breeze.'

 _The cold December sky of Montana._

'A running source of water.'

 _The waterfall._

'The enemy.'

 _What do we have here?_

'The bastard.'

 _I'm… sorry._

…

The tempest of sensations flooded my mind as my red state kicked in. I felt numb to the breeze; to the heat of the Hoenn summer. Everything became clear to me as my senses increased. I felt each individual fiber of the cotton in my pants brushing against my legs. The scent of bark and fruit filled my nose as the taste of the forest's essence reverberated on my tongue. I could hear the whisper of the wind through the trees and every breath that was taken within a 500-meter radius.

Everything was fine until the unstoppable desire to destroy surged from within.

'Mom.'

 _Everything will be alright._

'Julian.'

 _I got your back._

'Victoria.'

 _Please don't take my sunshine away._

'Melanie'

 _You can trust me._

I inhaled deeply and breathed heavily as the red state began to die down. I've been at this practice of controlling this curse for about a week in the same area that Charles, Occulus, Mark, Victoria, as well as I, had settled into. Every morning and every evening held the same routine of me bringing out the darkness and shoving it back inside when I couldn't control it anymore.

I wouldn't say I hadn't made any progress by then, but I wouldn't exactly call a 10-second increase in durability progress either. No doubt it was difficult to control a side of me that thought on its own like a separate entity. However, Charles had promised that he would show me the way to Fortree once I had learned to at least keep it under control in unfavorable circumstances. In other words, I had to bring it out during a fight and bring it under control during battle.

For a week, I had fought Charles, and each time I had lost due to my failure to control the situation. He blamed my lack of discipline on my training. He said, "You need to fully submerge yourself in the regression state – to succumb to it – before you draw yourself out of it."

In case I hadn't made it clear enough: I don't like not having control over myself. It is a bit of irony for me to indulge in becoming black-out drunk on a Sunday, but killing someone in such a state doesn't sit well with me. It feels almost as if I'm acting as a puppet – a vessel.

 **"Guardian!"** Mark called out to me.

"What?"

 **"Guardian Charles has prepared a meal for us,"** he spoke as he walked to me. It wasn't just I that had been training on my weakness; Victoria and Mark had been at similar practices. For the week, Mark had been practicing his movement on two feet; walking normally for lack of a better phrase. He had been improving well with Charles' help. Victoria, on the other hand, had been perfecting her attacks with vigor and beauty. She said something about 'wanting to be graceful' in the way she fought.

"Alright, let's not keep him waiting," I told him with a smirk, "I am fond of the bastard's stew."

[…]

"Morning cunt!" I greeted my human companion.

"Again with the insults," Charles sighed with a facepalm.

"Did he poison the stew?" I whispered to Victoria. She rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving me in suspense to an answer.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Charles asked.

"Well, did you?"

"…"

"I'll take your silence as a yes!" I exclaimed falsely.

"I didn't poison the damned stew! I'm eating as well," he informed.

"Yeah, well, even some bastards have antidotes," I retorted.

 **"The only thing that is poisoned here is your ignorance,"** Victoria commented, **"You've been asking the same question for the past week yet you are still here, and you still cannot trust him."**

"Well, if I had an ugly mug like that, I wouldn't be able to trust myself," I mumbled. To my satisfaction, Mark elicited a heavy laugh to which I nodded in acceptance.

The past week had been just as similar in dialogue as it had been in training.

"Are you going to lose again today?" Charles remarked as he poured the contents of the stew into several canteen cups.

"Gee mister, I hope not," I said while batting my eyes right next to his face. He pushed my face away slowly in disgust and gave the meals to Victoria and Mark while setting two down for us.

"Then let's get this over and done with now. I have my own training to attend to as well as reporting headquarters on my status."

"Ah headquarters 'shmeadquarters'. We could wait 'till – Shit!" I yipped as a shadow ball buzzed past my face.

"You were saying?"

"Fine, but leave that demon out of this!" I warned half-heartedly. Immediately following my statement, I felt a negative emotion emit from Victoria.

"In case you weren't aware, 'demon' is also a slur towards beasts," Charles informed as he went to pet Victoria at the side of her head just below the base of her horn. She leaned into it like it was the best thing in the world.

"Since when did the two of you get so chummy?" I questioned. Victoria suspiciously backed away from Charles while he provided an answer.

"Absol have a sensitive spot in the base of their horn; stroking it just the right way gives them a pleasurable feeling, but nothing lewd."

"Uh-huh," I replied awkwardly.

"So are you ready?" he asked me while setting a towel down from his shoulder.

I sighed heavily, "Let me get my flops."

"Your wh-"

"I'm ready."

[…]

Both of us stood silently across each other on the edges of the arena (the clearing in this case). The same rules as the days before still applied: the battle ends successfully when I am killed, I am neutralized, or I neutralize Charles after successfully recovering from my red state. If I am about to kill Charles, Occulus will neutralize me and wait until Charles recovers before I can be woken.

I twitched my fingers like an old westerner about to grab his pistol in a classic duel. His eyes squinted in the glare of the sun -an advantage if timed properly. If not, then I'd have to deal with the consequences.

When his arm twitched in the slightest of motions, I began my assault by firing an aura sphere at his feet. He easily jumped to his left, evading the attack, but it was my intention for him to do so. I shot off three more as I moved toward him: one to his right, another to his left, and one above him. He fired his own aura sphere at the incoming orb – dissipating it instantly.

I fired two more at the ground in front of him to pick up some of the dirt underneath; unfortunately, the only thing that had been kicked up was soil and roots. That didn't stop me in the slightest; I made my way to his space creating an aura-knife and charging aura through my arms.

I made a grand leap over the remaining airborne rubble and came down hard with my fist smashing the ground to bits. The tremor temporarily robbed Charles of his balance and a window to his center mass was left open to me. Seizing the moment, I fired an aura sphere to his chest. The projectile hit, but I was also met with his own aura sphere to my shoulder.

"You're losing focus agai- humph!" Charles was interrupted with an aura sphere to the chin.

"What did I say about talking?" I asked. I received a grunt in return before he charged his body toward me. I cracked my neck and began our hand-to-hand combat.

I swiped my knife across his chest, but narrowly missed by millimeters do to the timely arching of his back. I hooked my leg around his and went for another slash, but he, in turn, ended up tripping me to the ground. I recovered quickly, but not before the pain of an aura sphere to the spine seared through my body. Biting my lip, I returned to my opponent with my arm still overflowing with aura. He went for a swing with his own metal knife, but I defended by positioning my arm against his swinging arm creating a 'T'. I cracked a smile and placed my palm on his chest, quickly releasing my aura in a small, controlled explosion knocking him back several meters.

He ended up rolling to his feet and leaping in the air and climbing on to one of the trees.

 _A forest._

"I gotta admit, you got skill kid," he complemented before using the trunk of a tree to jump towards me. I was ready and prepared one aura sphere in each hand. Unknown to me, the little bastard had his own aura sphere lined up and fired directly at my face. Using my hands to block, I absorbed his aura into a large ball. Another plan came to mind as I held the sphere in front of me; waiting for him to impact.

However, he had gone straight through the ball and landed a right cross on my cheek. I fell, but was quick to recover. The next thing I knew, I was tackled to the ground with the wind knocked out of me.

 _A breeze._

I tried arching my back to get Charles off of me, but it was futile as he continued his assault. I tried flowing my aura into my legs to give them an extra boost, and Charles proceeded to fly into a tree like a round from a catapult. Wiping the blood from my mouth, I recovered into a fight-ready stance with aura flaring on my hands. Charles, on the other hand, wasn't so quick to get back on his feet. I took his moment of weakness as my advantage and grabbed him by his shirt.

Effortlessly, I tossed him to the other side of the clearing and into another tree. I closed the distance between the two of us and cocked my arm back for a deadly strike to the face. However, he seemed to be more conscious of his surroundings this time and rolled to the side. Unable to redirect my attack, I pounded my fist into the tree and essentially chopped it down. The trunk toppled over to my side and, in a moment of sudden-thinking, I ran far enough of a distance to avoid the impact of the tree or any of its branches.

That became my moment of weakness as Charles grabbed me by my sides and tossed me just as easily into the forest face down.

 _~2 seconds~_ my foresight told me. I regained focus and turned over, only to roll over once again to avoid the aura-induced strike from Charles. The impact created a tremor that pushed my off the ground and into the air briefly. Thinking quickly, I twisted my body and began to spin during my descent towards the ground. With both of my hands dripping with aura, I intended to defend Charle's next move.

However, it never came and I ended up creating another blast in the ground that pushed me into the air yet again – albeit a little higher this time. At least, this time, I was able to regain my sense of balance and direction – allowing me to return to the ground safely.

Without warning, I felt a sharp pain within my thigh as well as a warm liquid running down my leg.

 _A waterfall._

I looked back only to be punched to the ground by Charles.

 _The enemy._

The wound brought me the memory of my brother stabbing me just before he killed me.

 _The Bastard._

The next thing I knew, I was seeing red all over. The only thought running through my mind was the intent to kill.

 _~.5 seconds~_

As if time did not apply to me, I immediately grabbed the knife headed for my side and forced it out of Charle's grip. I fired an aura sphere into his legs following that, causing him to topple over.

It was at that point when I realized that my body was moving on my own.

 _'Alright, alright Michael. Time to slow down. Think! Mom.'_

Charles fired an aura sphere at my head as I slowly made my way to him.

 _'Julian.'_

I was unfazed and continued my assault. I raised my arm and fired multiple aura spheres in rapid succession.

 _'Victoria.'_

In a quick moment of self-control, I seized my wrist and fell to the ground.

"Not… today… fucker," I told my _other_ self in this internal battle of will. Just when I thought I had it, I saw myself creating a knife out of my own, red aura and lunged at Charles. He fired another aura sphere at my head, effectively pushing me to the side of him as I focused on the final piece of recovering.

 _'Melanie.'_

I yelled out in agony as an unholy pain shot through my core. One moment everything was red, the next was light, and the next was everything in its normally colorful vision. I heard myself chuckle in the wake of what appeared to be an explosion.

" _ **Long… Live… Alex…ander…"**_

* * *

I awoke in darkness. However, it wasn't like the other times when I fell asleep; I was now in pure darkness. I couldn't see anything, not even my hands waving in front of my face.

All of it went away when a bright light turned on in front of me. It illuminated the vicinity, but I could tell that I wasn't in a room of any sort. I lay on a hospital bed, something akin to a stretcher, strapped by my arms and feet. It was strange being immobilized after being able to wave my hands around.

I struggled as hard as I could, but it was no use so I waited. After some time, I heard a clinking noise around me. Attempting to turn my head in the direction of suspicion, I found that it too was restrained. Thankfully, I had no need of looking in any direction once the head of a doctor in scrubs came over me. From my current angle, I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman; the mask and goggles certainly aided its mystery.

The doctor turned away to find interest in something else – only for that interest to be a record player. The sound of 40's jazz filled the area I was in, causing me to feel some discomfort. The doctor – now identified as a man – came to my side with his tray of tools and equipment. When I tried to get a peak, he slapped me and propped my face forward.

I learned my place after about five attempts and a threat with a saw. Needless to say, I was feeling horrified. When he turned around to grab something, I stole a glance at his equipment. It was nothing short of standard surgical equipment, but for what reason? Last I checked, I was fine.

And then the terror dropped. I didn't remember the last time I checked my condition. It felt as if I was in that place for hours. Fog began to swirl around the area as I continued looking at the equipment. My attention was pulled astray when I felt a pretty thick syringe enter my neck.

Flashbacks of Morty and the Aura serum came to mind and my breathing picked up. I tried speaking, but my voice was gone. I looked in front of me, and there stood a child. It was a little boy, but his expression was nothing short of corrupted malice. No sign of innocence was visible – which made sense seeing as he was about to witness some sort of surgical procedure.

"You can't get rid of me that easy," the boy said with an evil smile. I made another attempt at speaking, but instead found my mouth sewn shut. Swishing my tongue around, I found that my mouth was completely removed. Instead of speaking, I tried to send a thought to the child. I asked him who he was.

He never spoke again. He simply pointed to my left and disappeared like smoke. I looked in the direction he pointed to and saw a mirror. The last thing I remembered was seeing the boy strapped onto the bed with the doctor about to insert a lengthy syringe into his head.

 **"I think he's having another nightmare,"** Mark inquired.

 **"Mark says he's having another nightmare,"** Victoria relayed.

 _'But to whom?'_ I asked myself.

"Well," Charles responded, "He's sleeping with a ghost and shade next to him, so that's got to count towards it."

 **"This seems… unnatural,"** Mark commented.

 **"I agree,"** said Victoria.

"What did he say, dear?" Charles asked.

 _'Dear? Why is he calling her that?'_

 **"His nightmare seems unnatural,"** Victoria repeated.

"Unnatural, you say?"

 _'I thought he couldn't understand them perfectly?'_ I thought. Of course, I assumed I was being paranoid, but it was paranoia that kept me safe in my travels.

 _~~Direction of the sun, 60 seconds~~_

I immediately rose from my position and looked towards the West, looking over the tremors in the ground.

"What is it?" Charles asked in a whisper. All of them caught on fairly quickly to my action.

I peered through my aura vision to get a glimpse of what could be disturbing me so late in the afternoon. What I saw was nothing short of a disaster.

"West… 40 seconds," Charles recited. We looked to each other and nodded.

"RUN!" we both shouted. I made sure to grab my bag, my knife, the map, and Mark before I made my way east. Charles and Victoria were ahead of me, but not by far.

 **"What did you see, Guardian?"** Mark asked.

"Are stampedes common here?" I asked as I sprinted.

 **"That's preposterous,"** he remarked as if there was no such thing. He seemed to take back his words when the tremors grew more powerful and louder with the thunderous roars of Tropius behind us.

"You still doubt me?!" I yelled.

 **"Just run, Guardian!"**

So I did. Charles, Victoria, and I weaved through the trees and uneven terrain as a herd of Tropius followed us not far behind.

"Charles?!" I yelled to him.

"What?!"

"What causes a stampede?!" I asked.

"Not the time for questions with long answers!" he shouted back.

With every step, I could feel the herd… or flock… or whatever the plural of tropius would be, closing the distance. No matter what abilities I received with this 'gift' – I was not the Flash. It would only be a matter of time before all of us were overran.

"What can stop a stampede?!" I asked.

"Just run dammit!"

 _'Fuck! Why can't you be useful for once!'_

 _~~East 10 seconds~~_

"FUCK! WHAT NOW?!" I shouted.

"Something's coming!" Charles alerted.

"No shit!"

Of all the times I could receive a foresight, during a stampede would be the worst, and in front of me no less.

Before I could even think, a blast of energy pushed me backwards and knocked Mark out of my hands. The burst was so great and ranged that even Charles and Victoria were knocked back.

I had no time to rest, however. The tremoring steps of the stampede moved closer and we weren't moving at all.

There was a loud screech behind me, and I could have sworn there words said behind it. I turned around and felt a great relief wash over me as the stampede – now visible – slowed to a halt in front of a very familiar dragoness.

 **"Go home! You have nothing to fear anymore,"** Melanie spoke through her harmonious siren.

Instead of immediately turning around, each tropius – out of an estimation of 50 or so – bowed their heads one by one. I've spent enough time away from Melanie to forget that she was held in high regards to normal pokemon.

 **"Raise your heads, and return home,"** she ordered as kindly as a princess.

"Melanie?" I question as each tropius turned around. As she turned to me, the feeling of relief was washed over with regret. She folded her golden wings in front of her, transforming back into the same woman that saved me – with the same face that hated me.

"Woah… okay Melanie, I just want to say that-"

SLAP! She got me pretty good.

"What. The hell. Michael?!"

"Okay Melanie, there's a perfectly logical explanation for this-"

"I swear to Arceus, if you don't start explaining everything, I will draw it out of your skull!"

 _'When did she get so… dark?'_

"Alright! Alright! I left you guys because I had another nightmare where all of you died because of me and the only way to keep you safe was to leave!" I squeaked out. In all honesty, confessing that I took initiative to save her sounded a lot better in my head.

"You left… because you had a nightmare?" she asked, calling me out like I was lying.

"You don't believe me? I mean… can't you tell through our connection or something?"

She looked at me with the most hateful eyes I had ever seen.

 **"Ughh… Guardian what hap-"** Mark asked before he saw Melanie. **"Is that…"** he trailed off. Melanie looked at him and shook her head.

"I can't believe you. You left because you didn't want to get us hurt, and what do you do? Go and make another team to get killed with no direction?"

 _'Direction? Who was she to lecture on direction?'_

Before I could say anything back, Charles made his presence clear.

"Melanie?" he asked. The dragoness looked at him and her eyes widened.

"Charles is that you?" she asked. I looked between the two wondering what kind of situation I was in now.

"How long has it been?" Charles asked.

"30 years… I think," Melanie responded alongside a hug.

 _'Great. First Charles knocks me the fuck out, then we get chased by a stampede, then Melanie starts berating me, and now I'm being ignored as two long-lost friends reunite under that unlucky circumstances created by me. Could this day get any worse?'_

As soon as I was done counting up the day's events, an aura sphere hit the back of my knee, pushing me back down. Only one being I know could have the mental capacity of a fifth grader and throw aura at me for no reason.

"Fucking mutt…" I sighed into the ground. As if I didn't have enough to deal with, a pissed dragon and a mutt – who was annoying beyond belief – were well beyond my capacity to be patient.

I got up from the ground and readied an aura sphere. As I turned around, I was met with an equal expression of rage by that blue son of a bitch.

 **"Guardian?"** Mark worried. I ignored him and threw the aura sphere at that mutt with full force. It was faster than he could dodge, and he flew back from the impact with a squeal.

"Riolu!" Melanie screamed. I formed another aura sphere and threw it again at the same speed, only for it to be misdirected by – what I believed to be – Melanie's telekinesis.

"Michael! What are you thinking?!" Charles yelled.

"I've had enough of this _chimera's_ foreplay. Let's fucking go!" I challenged. I felt all of Melanie's, Mark's, and Victoria's pain at my choice of words. The mutt got up and panted from the pain.

"Michael, calm down!" Melanie ordered.

"You shut the fuck up, you bitch!" I spat.

The aura around her flared and her eyes began to glow. I've seen it enough times to be fazed, and found it rather insulting. Instead of putting my attention on her, I brought my focus back on Riolu.

"Michael," Charles interjected in front of me, "You're getting out of control; your red state it-"

I've had it. I didn't even think twice about knocking that old man's ass to the ground.

"I've had about enough of this bullshit. You know, just when I think I'm about to get closer, and _closer_ , to achieving my goal, the same fucking thing always happens. I'm always knocked back. I take one step forward, and get pushed 2 miles back.

Why are you all surprised that I'm _this_ pissed off right now?! It's because none of you understand what I have been through. I wake up one morning, looking forward to a good, normal day. The next thing I know, I'm in handcuffs! Fast forward a month, and I'm in trial with a jury that sees me as nothing but a murderer. Fast forward three days, and I'm shipped off to my execution. A day later, and my brother breaks me out. I think I have a chance; I have a possibility at redemption. To move somewhere – to some safe house where I could live the rest of my life in HIDING! Only for it to fuck up!

Only for it to fuck up because my brother, my own flesh and blood, betrayed me and sold me out to a man who looked just like _you._ Next thing I know, I end up here in fantasy land with this… this thing – this curse. It's a curse and I don't give a damn about what your 'gods' believe in. I only believe in one god, and he isn't helping either.

And then I meet _you. Melanie._ Someone I think I could put my trust in, only to find out she's a fucking dragon in this world that could only exist in fantasy. Only for me to find out that this is no fantasy. That this is something much, _much_ darker than anything I could imagine.

And then you, _you,_ the one who saved me – the one who lied to me – gave me hope that there was some way back. That by some miracle, I could return home and exact my revenge on those I once trusted with my life!

And then the nightmares arrive. Each showing me horrors. I thought… I thought I found something that I could hold on to until the moment of my return. Only for the terrors to show me that I am the true enemy, and that my false happiness with you will end because of me! And out of my best act of kindness, I leave so the three of you could be spared from whatever hell awaited me.

I leave, and almost get killed by a giant. Fucking. Snake! Something begins stalking me, only for it to be a fucking acorn! Comical… right?!

And then I meet the guy… this fucking man – this demon – who looks exactly like the son of a bitch that put me here with the help of my _'brother'._ And then he says that he's this 'special guardian' and this 'war hero' from a tribe of looneys believing in false gods. Who, with the 'gracious gift' of these 'gods', received the same powers as me. Who believes in stories of legends and myths that cannot exist anywhere else but imagination.

And this man cannot even lead a group of soldiers, yet he believes he can boss me around. It's because he's weak. It's because he hasn't the _balls_ to do what's necessary, so he hides behind a desk. Only for him to get a call to hunt me down. As a result, he gives this glimmer of hope in training me to control these powers – _this curse!_

How can you even do it? What is it that you said? You trained for YEARS to control your abilities, but can't even lift two fingers compared to what I can do. Then you say you'll start by controlling my 'red state'.

You know, maybe I don't want to control it because it is the only thing that's saving my ass every fucking day in this hell! Every day, I'm beaten to near-death - to unconsciousness… all for the sake of controlling this curse inside of a fucking curse.

And right after I wake up from one of these 'sessions', a fucking stampede of monsters, of behemoths, chases me down… only for me to be saved by you: the white knight. My savior. My _guardian angel._ And then _you're_ pissed because I left in order to leave you out of my pain. Out of the notion of sparing all of us pain, I left.

And then this mutt tops it all off by doing the SAME FUCKING THING HE ALWAYS DOES!

Yes! I am pissed. Yes! I'm probably going out of control. SO THE FUCK WHAT! All I wanted to do was get back home… and now… and… now…"

I paused. Not to catch my breath, but because I had reached a barrier inside of myself. I had reached a truth that I had long ignored ever since Sootopolis.

"Nothing has changed…"

Nothing has changed. I was alone back on earth, and I'm alone here too. I am just as misfortunate now as I was in my old life. The only difference now…

"…because my choices led me here…"

* * *

So far, the only good thing about Melanie's arrival were her navigational skills. We made it to Fortree in a matter of three days only stopping to sleep and eat.

After my ordeal, everyone – including Mark and Chance – kept their distance from me. Everyone except Victoria. As we walked, I kept myself to the back, only looking up to see where Melanie was taking us. Victoria would walk alongside me and occasionally lick my hand, but I ignored it and kept to my thoughts.

The day after the grand reunion, the rain hit heavily. We were only kept dry by Melanie's telekinesis creating a forcefield around everyone. Occasionally, I would fall back far enough to leave the forcefield and get drenched in rain. The only reason I didn't stay for the natural baptism was because Melanie wouldn't wait for me.

During meals, I would sit off near the edge of the barrier next to a tree. I played around with aura spheres and my knife to pass the time as everyone went to sleep one by one. Victoria often tugged at my jeans to get me to join the group for chow, but I was never hungry. Instead of persisting, Victoria would simply lie down next to me, only for me to slide away.

I would never sleep. I would stay up every night, looking up at the sky for any gap in the clouds. I couldn't say I was disappointed; that would entail me having expectations – which were run dry.

One of these nights, I noticed – through aura – that Melanie had awoken from her sleep. She looked at me with a mixture of leftover anger and pity. I felt her tug ever-so-slightly at my aura, but I ignored it. She reached her hand out in an effort to say something, but shrugged it off regretfully as she went back to sleep in a fit of minor anger.

It was good thing, because moments after, I began to cry. The loneliness and despair, and hopeless I felt reached me. It was here when I began to count up every moment I felt lost in the world. The number pushed me further into sadness.

And sadness was the tip of the iceberg.

…

Fortree wasn't as big of a place I thought it would be. I imagined it as a city in the trees spanning for miles, but it was a simple, small village – still in the trees. Luckily, they were still equipped with this world's modern advances of hotels and diners.

I realized that the treehouses weren't for decoration or ingenuity on the idea of style, but rather for function to avoid the heavy rainfalls. The river running through part of the city was also a reason.

As I was in the rear of everything, Melanie and Charles took care of the housing arrangements and purchased three rooms. One for Melanie, the mutt, and Chance. One for Charles, Mark, and Victoria, and one for me. Without a word, I took the key and made my way to the room.

It was small and reeked of moldy wood, but it made sense for my luck. I threw my bag on the bed and prepared the shower. I forgot how long it was since I last used one in Lilycove. Was it weeks? Months? I lost count a while ago, and stopped caring when Melanie arrived.

I undressed and stood naked in front of the mirror. I looked at the man across from me in disgust. His beard was scraggly and dirty. His eyes had bags the size of flour sacks and his hair was unkempt. If anything could be guessed from my reflection, it looked like I was homeless.

I grabbed a razor from my bag and put it next to my face. But how could I shave it? I was a _man_ after all. As if I was in a trance, I dropped thee razor and walked into the shower. I let the steam do all its work and… there wasn't steam. It wasn't even warm. The water was cold and muddy as if it was taken from the river underneath us all. I was glad to think that there wasn't any plumbing for the showers to draw water from.

 _'But where does our shit go?'_

I shook my head and walked out of the shower. Barely anything had been washed after only stepping in for 10 seconds. I decided to leave it be and simply wipe myself off with a dry towel. I spent three days in the rain after all.

After doing so, I put on a fresh set of clothes and grabbed an umbrella, courtesy of the motel. I walked outside and made my way to the local bar, grabbed a bottle of liquor, and walked back.

I didn't know what this world made their alcohol out of, but whatever it was, I just needed to get drunk.

And so I did. I drank from the bottle sip after sip. Those sips turned into shots, and shots into chugs. Sooner than I realized, the bottle was out and I was hammered. I don't remember much from that night. There was a face and a body that gave me the release I needed, but I couldn't put an identity on it.

The next day came and I was greeted at the door by Charles. Immediately, I shut it and took a nap. When I awoke, it was already dusk.

The rain kept falling.

I purchased another bottle of liquor and made my way back. I noticed that Riolu was nearby; he was probably trying to see if I would run away again. I found it rather funny; _where could I run to, after all?_ I finished that bottle and slept the night and morning away.

* * *

I awoke to a pounding at the door. I could sense that it was Morty… er… Charles and shrugged it off. I spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching the raindrops tap on the windows.

At night, I heard a soft knock at the door, this time, with a set of words alongside it.

"Michael… can we… talk?" Melanie said.

* * *

 **a/n Not trying to make this sound like the Flame of Life (good read by the way).**


	14. Gaining

**a/n: Shit happens, but so does recovery. I think I'm back on track now that life events are looking up.**

 **Also: Yesterday marks one year since I first published this story. So yay! But I still have a ways to go, so bear with me friends!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Gaining**

 **[Previously…]**

 **"This seems… unnatural,"** Mark commented.

 **"I agree,"** said Victoria.

"What did he say, dear?" Charles asked.

 _'Dear? Why is he calling her that?'_

 **"His nightmare seems unnatural,"** Victoria repeated.

"Unnatural, you say?"

 _'I thought he couldn't understand them perfectly?'_ I thought.

 **[…]**

Before I could say anything back, Charles made his presence clear.

"Melanie?" he asked. The dragoness looked at him and her eyes widened.

"Charles is that you?" she asked. I looked between the two wondering what kind of situation I was in now.

"How long has it been?" Charles asked.

"30 years… I think," Melanie responded alongside a hug.

 **[…]**

"I've had about enough of this bullshit. You know, just when I think I'm about to get closer, and _closer_ , to achieving my goal, the same fucking thing always happens. I'm always knocked back. I take one step forward, and get pushed 2 miles back."

 **[…]**

"Nothing has changed…

…because my choices led me here…"

 **[…]**

I drank from the bottle sip after sip. Those sips turned into shots, and shots into chugs. Sooner than I realized, the bottle was out and I was hammered. I don't remember much from that night. There was a face and a body that gave me the release I needed, but I couldn't put an identity on it.

 **[…]**

"Michael… can we… talk?" Melanie asked.

* * *

Something inside of me wanted to answer the door. It wanted to yell at her for being a hindrance – to hug her for coming back for him – to close it again to make some sort of statement. However, I couldn't gather the strength and inner-fortitude to accomplish that task. Whatever it was inside me that wanted to act, it wasn't me. It would be foolish of me to listen to ideas which were not formulated inside my mind – which was too broken in the first place.

 **"Michael?"** She asked again through our bond. I, again, see this thing as a curse. I could ignore her all day long just by shoving a pillow over my head, by going to sleep, or just waiting until she left. Aura was different – it is a part of you, and something tugging on you cannot simply go unnoticed. It was as if somebody pulled on a single strand of hair, or blew into my ear, or even brushing my unit. After enough time of the same action, something has to be done… unless weird folk like the former two.

 **"… Go away,"** I told Melanie.

 **"I just want to talk,"** she replied.

 **"About what? I've already said enough to all of you. What more is there to discuss?"**

There was a moment of silence between the two of us. Her aura was still present, but she felt as if she was thinking heavily. So much, in fact, that I wished there was some way to cut the connection so I can have true peace and quiet.

 **"It's been a month,"** she responded, **"Chance missed you…"**

 **"Then he could've come over and be disappointed himself,"** I stated dully. I could feel her anger beginning to rise, but to my shock, she looked like she was shoving it aside. The next thing I knew, I heard a click at the door and Melanie walked through. I should've guessed for a psychic dragon.

"I'm glad we aren't at the island if this is how you take care of yourself," she scoffed as she looked around the room. I could tell she was trying to crack a joke… but she was still horrible at jokes. That notion didn't make the pain any less further away.

"I see you're still as forceful as ever," I replied. Her expression wavered off into small regret.

"I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Yet here you are."

Another period of silence rolled through and the only action she took was shutting the door behind her.

"Michael, why are you so distant suddenly? Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm not acting," I argued, "I'm just… I don't know. Just leave me be."

"Come with me. Come back to us; we could still find a way to get you back-"

"And then what?!" I shouted. "What would happen then?! I've been lying to myself this entire time by telling myself that there is a reason I need to return. But with everything that's happened, I don't know if I can hang on to what I want to do. What I _need_ to do!"

Melanie's face lost her hope and her eyes became downcast.

"So you're just going to abandon us because you think we'll hold you back? Because you think we have nothing to offer you?"

"That's not," I hesitated, "what I meant-"

"Well, what did you mean?! Every time you speak, ten different meanings fly out of your mouth. I don't know what you want. None of us do! If you could tell us all, whether you want revenge, or whether you just want to clear your name, then we can help you. But you cannot do this without help. You are in an unfamiliar world with powers you don't know how to control; yet, you wish to carry on this crusade by yourself."

I stood up and walked to the window. The rain continued to fall; leaving the outside scenery concealed from my vision.

"All I ever wanted, since my father passed away, was for my life to just turn around. I just wanted to be happy. I wanted some sort of joy to take away that pain. But there's always gonna pain to take away my joy. I never wanted any of this. I don't know the… the causal factor in my coming here, but I just wish it never happened."

"I don't know if anyone has told you this yet," Melanie said, "But you need to move on. It's too late to change what has happened. There is no possible chance for you to go back in time and change that, so there is no reason for you to think about it. Everyone that's dead is already dead, but what about us, Michael? What about the people that are alive and next to you in this moment? You can definitely change that for the better." She paused as she collected her next words. "You once told me that you hated all the sad attitudes, so end yours right now."

God, I just wanted to smack her for her insolence. She dared to come to me and tell me how to live my life?

"Move on? Move on?! How can I move on?! How can I just _forget_ those people! I tried moving on, and you know what happened? YOU! You happened! I left to _move on_ and you come back into my goddammed life! For what: to give me direction? I don't need any! I don't need your help! I didn't need anyone's help with my life! I became the best soldier without anyone pushing me! There was no one to lean back on. I worked, with blood gushing out of my mouth, to survive, and there was no one there to acknowledge it! I became the best, because of the memory of the people I loved that _died!_ I got where I was because I didn't move on!"

I paused to catch my breath, allowing the sound of the rain to flood into the room.

"But you," I said, "You had everything. You had-"

" _Everything?_ " Melanie repeated. "You think I had the perfect life? Is that what this is about?"

"Don't deny it."

"Do you know what it's like? Being immortal? Living and watching everyone you built a relationship with wither away into the past? I never _had_ everything. I could hardly even establish a relationship with someone."

"I think it's because no one could stand your bitchy attitude," I interjected.

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is, Melanie? Is the point, that your life is worse than mine?"

"Charles was right," she said with her hand against her forehead. I chuckled.

"Oh of course. It all comes back to Charles, now doesn't it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You and that old bastard have been chummy since the moment your eyes met. 'It's been thirty years'," I mocked. "Evidently my life would have gravitated back to you even if you didn't show up."

"Charles is just an old friend," she tried to establish.

"Hey," I said holding my hands up. "I don't give a rat's ass what you two do in bed. Why don't you go fuck him right now? That might cheer you up."

"That's enough!" she yelled. "I can't take this anymore; if you can't get over this façade, then I'll have no choice but to do it for you."

I leaned towards her and said, as calm as a breeze, "try me, you chimera bit-"

I was unable to finish my sentence due to a terrible pain coursing through my head. It reminded me of when I had been injected with the aura serum, but it was worse at the same time. My hands clenched the sides of my head and pulled on my scraggly hair to even out the pain.

Visions of war and chaos churned through my eyes as I watched scenes of battles I had never experienced play out like they were real. They came in fragments like memories, but each were so pure that I might as well have pressed pause and studied the contents.

It showed a world run to the ground from war. Bodies upon bodies, human bodies, piled on top of each other creating mountains of corpses under a red dusk. Atop those mounds were monsters of likes I had never seen – monsters that couldn't even exist in this world.

I was then shown a large meteor heading into the world's atmosphere, though it appeared organic rather than solid material. Hands reached out from the world welcoming it like the second coming of Jesus.

Next were four silhouettes standing upon a mound of bodies. One resembled a soldier from the future with a multitude of advanced technology. Another resembled a western outlaw holding a staff. The next two stood side by side, resembling the first person, holding their hands.

The next image was of multiple masks scattered across a floor. Each with a different expression, but the same structure. A mask was hung on top of a wall that was painted with blood. The blood was painted as a message saying, 'Glory to the New World. Glory to Alexander.'

It all stopped as suddenly as it had arrived and I stood still with an expression of shock and fear on my face. I was about to speak when another flash of images came through. Though… these were different. They were all a ceiling with a fan running in circles. I couldn't move my head, but I could hear a voice whispering to me – calling out to me. Same with the first set of images, these stopped just as suddenly.

The next thing I know, I'm on the floor with Melanie holding me up against her. Her mouth was moving, but I heard no words. All I could hear was a constant ringing for a while. I couldn't even move my body. I just laid there with Melanie trying to bring me back from whatever it was I had experienced.

Eventually, my senses came to and I was able move, breathe, and speak.

I looked into her eyes once more and whispered, as if the last 10 minutes of conversation never existed, "What's happening to me?"

"I don't know," she replied frightened to the core. "I-I tried to look into your mind and…"

"What? What did you see?" I asked.

"I couldn't see anything. Michael, I can't see inside you."

The way she said it was so terrifying that I began to shake slightly.

"What do you mean? Aren't you psychic?"

"I am… but…"

"But _what,_ Melanie?!"

She reached her hand towards my head and I, once again, began to convulse in pain.

My vision went dark and a pair of red eyes and brass teeth looked at me with grave intention.

 **"I wanted to see you,"** an eerie child's voice called out. **"I've searched for so long, but I could never find you. Now that I have, there is no one that could take you away from-"**

Before I knew it, I was staring into a pair of eyes that were a darker shade than what I had just seen. They were Victoria's eyes.

 **"Michael,"** she asked, **"Are you alright?"**

I took me a moment to come to my senses and notice that the pain had disappeared. I nodded my head and stood up. I looked around the room to see Melanie on the ground being comforted by Charles, Chance, and Riolu.

Mark and Victoria were at my side, but, when I looked around the room, I realized that something horrible must have happened. The place was a mess. The mattress was torn to shreds and the windows were shattered, allowing the rain to fall inside the room. The walls were cracked and torn and the door was open with citizens outside peering in with mouths agape.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You did this, you son of a bitch!" Charles said as he came and introduced his fist to my face. I was sent back down while Victoria began to growl at Charles.

"Charles, calm down," Melanie said exhaustedly. Riolu barked at her, probably something along the lines of, 'Stay down, you're not well yet.'

"No," Charles spat back. He brought this plague upon us."

"We can fix it," Melanie assured.

 **"Back away, Charles,"** Victoria warned.

"You trust him, over me?" Charles asked.

" _What is going on here_?" a new voice entered the room. Immediately, all eyes went to the front door and four of us were thoroughly surprised.

"Nadira?" I asked.

"Michael?" Nadira asked.

"Nadine?" Charles asked.

"You?" Melanie asked.

"Dad!" Nadira exclaimed.

" _Dad?!"_ Melanie and I asked.

 **"Nancy!"** Victoria exclaimed.

"Tori!" Nadira exclaimed.

Victoria ran to Nadira and the two hugged in a small and apparent reunion.

"Wait, you're his daughter?" I asked the newcomer.

"You two know each other?" Charles asked with a hint of aggression in his voice.

"Yeah, Dad," Nadira responded. "We met during the Solar and Lunar festival in Mossdeep."

"You never said you had a daughter," Melanie commented.

"Yeah, I just caught up with you a few days ago, and you," Charles pointed out at me, "You have explaining to do."

" _I think all of you do,_ " another new voice said; though, this one was more masculine.

We all, once again, turned our heads to the source to see, what appeared to be, a police officer. His eyes scoured the room and a look of horror and utter disgust fell upon his face when he looked at the beasts in the room.

He picked up his radio and spoke into it, "I need two Chimera Squads at Fortree Inn. One absol, two dogs, and one… acorn."

 **"I am** ** _no_** **mindless seed!"** Mark rattled at the cop.

"I need all humans to please get to one side of the room," he ordered.

"No, you're misunderstanding-" Nadira tried.

"Back away _NOW!_ " he barked.

"No," Melanie stated. "They have done nothing wrong."

"Ma'am," the officer said while placing his hand on his hip, "I need you to follow my orders if you don't want to get hurt."

"The only one that's going to hurt us is _you_!"

At the time, I was still disoriented from the previous events, but I stepped forward to make a remark.

"Officer, none of my _friends,_ are responsible for this. _I am_."

 _"Michael, what are you doing?"_ Melanie asked through telepathy.

 _"I'm telling them the truth."_ I turned my head to look her in the eye. _"Seeing as I'm the only one whoever does."_ As I finished speaking to her, I flicked my hand in order to produce an aura sphere.

However, I became distressed and confused when nothing happened. I flicked my arm again with the same result. I looked around the room and even outside with all eyes on me.

I closed my eyes and attempted to activate my aura, only to see the blackness of my eyelids.

"That's… that can't be right," I whispered to myself.

"Michael?" Melanie asked. I was too occupied on what was happening to even consider or respond to her question.

 _"Shu,"_ the officer said, _"Wubre un da'eng?"_

For a moment, I was stunned by his speech. Everything was happening so fast that I felt as if I was going to faint.

"Victoria?" I tried asking. I was only met with a whimper and several purrs. I asked Mark and Chance as well, only to hear a series of rattles and mews. I tried to ask Nadira what was going on, but she only looked at me as if I was speaking gibberish.

"You lost your aura…" Charles said heavily. I looked at him with a shred of hope and grabbed onto his shirt.

"Can you understand me?" I asked him. He nodded and I felt slightly relieved. I looked to Melanie and she only shook her head.

 _"Michael… can you understand me?"_ she asked through telepathy. I nodded in response, and she sighed thankfully.

The officer then began to speak his strange language towards Charles.

"He's… asking what you are trying to say… and that you don't speak any language of Indigo."

Is that what they meant by Indigo? Whenever anybody mentioned language, I assumed they just had another term for English.

It all clicked in my head once I brought aura into the equation. Back when Melanie and I visited Sootopolis, she told me to remain quiet because I couldn't speak the native language. It was when I understood them perfectly that something seemed off. And all the times I heard others cursing and that 'Arn' fellow mentioning dialects.

It all came together in one word: aura. I was able to, not only understand other languages, but to speak them fluently to others while I retained the thought of simply speaking English.

As I thought more on the idea, three more men in uniform arrived with cages.

 _"Kek li mer tohli ron,"_ the first officer said. Before I could even guess what they were trying to say, two of the men barged in and grabbed Mark and Chance. Victoria and Riolu began to resist as the third moved towards them.

"Victoria, easy," Charles tried to order.

 _"Fyep!"_ Nadira screamed, only for her voice to go unnoticed.

I tried to move and stop them, but the exhaustion of the recent events as well as losing my aura caught up to me, and I became a useless heap on the ground. I then heard the sound of electricity and looked up to find both Victoria and Riolu electrocuted by stun guns. Both passed out quickly and Melanie stood in front of them. Even without aura, I could tell she was about to do something as drastic as showing everyone what she was.

I was right, but just as her golden wings unsheathed themselves, she too was shot by the stun gun. Charles then began to voice his anger in this turn of events, but the first officer pulled a sidearm on his face, effectively silencing the guardian. Nadira looked at the scene helpless, just as I was.

In a span of several minutes, all pokemon were taken into custody and the hotel room was left with only Nadira, Charles, and I. It all happened so fast that I was unable to recall what had even happened.

I began to fell nauseated. Losing my powers and having almost everyone taken from me felt all too familiar. Charles cursed into the air and left the room in a storm, and Nadira came to my side and helped me up. The motion was too much as I hurled the alcohol from last night onto the floor, causing Nadira to slip and drop me.

I hit my head on one of the bottles and the day ended with my unconsciousness.

* * *

 **"Don't worry. No one can hurt us anymore."**

I awoke with a cold sweat, a feeling that's becoming more and more of a habit. The bed I was on was warm and smelled sweet like berries. As I looked around, I became aware that night had fallen, but the rain continued its downpour.

I felt sick; every muscle in my body throbbed in pain as I shuffled around in the sheets. I could hardly move without feeling discomfort, but I wasn't the only one moving. I felt another entity shift positons under the sheets next to me. It was human, and naked. Its skin was soft and warmed me to the core. I had forgotten, after so many trials of misfortune, what it felt like to sleep next to another human being.

Disregarding the pain, I turned over and lifted the sheets to find a mess of silky, black hair that could only belong to one person. As I lifted the sheets higher, I was able to look further down and discover that this person was completely in the nude. Normally, I would have savored this moment in my memory and stared to my hearts content. I might have even gone to cop a feel, but something in me, aside from my condition, didn't feel right.

So, I covered Nadira's body with the sheets and went to crawl out of the bed, only to discover that I, too, was naked. I didn't have the luxury of comfort to wonder why I was like that, so I walked on over to the bathroom.

I turned on the sink and let the water warm up as I looked into the mirror. There were many things to say, one being the red forehead, and another being the bump growing from the same, but one opinion was formulated best out of all the features in that glass reflection of me: I was a mess.

My eyes, bloodshot from the alcohol and illness, drooped in tiresome. My mouth was crusty with what could have been either drool or vomit, and I prayed for the former. My nose dripped with mucus, and yet, felt as dry as the Sonora desert. I drop of liquid began to leak through my nostril until it came to a single point on the tip of my nose. The red substance, as uncomfortable as can be, dripped into the sink and washed away with the running water.

An urge, more powerful than hormonal desire and the need to hurt those I hate combined, formed in the pit of my stomach and branched through my esophagus. I had luckily made it to the toilet bowl in time, but the feeling was none the better. I began to tear up from the bile's sting as well as the lack of air entering my lungs.

For two hours, I remained at that bowls side and let the illness drain out of me in more than one way. When I felt that I had finally finished, I turned on the shower and stepped in. The water was hot, but not enough to burn my skin. I stepped in and let the filth wash away from my exterior as I simultaneously scratched my balls and my ass.

I looked up and opened my mouth to let the water come in and wash the leftover vomit out. I shuddered as a small amount of the substance crept back into my stomach.

I felt weak, so terribly weak. I spent two hours excreting waste from both my mouth and my colon, and the shower did nothing to replenish my vitality. I had forgotten how it felt to be normal, to be useless, to be susceptible to any threat or emotion on the planet. The worst part was that I wasn't truly over it.

I quickly shoved aside the curtains and threw myself into the mouth of the porcelain throne. There, I lost more and more of my life and my motivation to continue onward. With everything that happened – with what I remembered – it was hard to continue.

But was it something I _really_ had to do? _I flushed the toilet and went to the mirror, letting the water drip down from my body without a care in the world._ I wiped the steam off and looked into the reflection of something. I couldn't tell what it was, but I didn't see it as human. It was less than human – something that both didn't deserve death, but didn't deserve life. It was half-human, half-alive. It was something that neither man nor beast can identify, but know enough to steer clear.

What was it called? Was it _monster?_ Or was it _thing?_ Maybe it was something worse, but it definitely wasn't able to be human. What has it done? Has it accomplished anything? Has it conquered its demons? Its goals? Had it given life? Had it pleased Death?

One thing was for certain: I looked at it with malice, because I hated it more than anything. How could it continue on with everything it had already fucked up? It wasn't God – it couldn't fix everything with a snap of its fingers. At this point, it couldn't fix anything.

But, it thought about those that had tried to help it. It considered the sentiment they tried to bring across its crosshairs. It thought about Chance, and the unconditional love he gave it. It thought about Mark, and the wisdom he shared with it. It thought about Victoria, and the comfort she provided when it was down. It thought about Charles, and his training that strengthened it. It looked outside and thought about Nadira who slept soundly. It thought about how much she must have cared to nurse it to health.

Finally, it thought about Melanie. It thought about the first time they met each other's eyes. It thought about how golden and full of life she was. It thought about her promise to help it. It thought about her grace when she flew with the sunrise. It thought about her smile that brought upon its. It thought about her laugh, and how genuine it was.

Finally, _I_ thought about her relentless effort to take me under her wing and help me getting home. How could I not help them after what they've done for me? I wiped the steam off the mirror, once again, and looked into the eyes of the half-human. A small smile crept on my face, and I gave a slight chuckle before heading back into the shower. Before I entered the hot rinse, I looked back towards the toilet and studied the substance I had created.

It was too late to change the past, and – like words – I couldn't take back what was forced out of me. I spit into the toilet and flushed the bile away.

I laughed once again, this time much more hearty, because my spirits began to lift upwards. And, the one thing that did so, was looking at a pile of vomit.

* * *

When I exited the bathroom, I found Nadira sitting up, the blanket wrapped around her, drinking a cup of coffee. She looked up at me and smiled. She knew she couldn't communicate with me, but I didn't need words to understand her happiness with my feeling better. Furthermore, she didn't need words to understand that my smile was meant to thank her for her assistance in doing so.

I had noticed that the rain had stopped, and the dawn's light began to flood the room, illuminating Nadira in a way I had never imagined. He skin was smooth, and her face, was detailed perfectly to reflect the image of beauty. Lastly, her hazel eyes glowed like lights in a dark alley.

I walked up to her in silence and took her coffee out of her hands. Placing it on the table, I looked back to her and held up a hand for her to take. She did so and stood up, allowing the blanket to fall on the bed and her body to be fully illuminated by the sun.

I scanned her body up and down thoroughly, appreciating the beauty that she had hidden under those sheets. Now that it was out in the open, I thought she would be embarrassed, but she wasn't shy in the least. She was confident, and she took the first move. She firmly placed her hands on the side of my head and began to kiss me in a passionate manner. Our lips were locked sealing away the desire that came out of our mouths.

She slipped her tongue into the mix and began to move against mine like a fiery dance for dominance, but I was no child. I stood my ground and, soon enough, thoroughly convinced her to give in. My tongue moved in her like unexplored territory. She was soft, as were her moans.

As our faces merged together, so did our hands with the others' body. One of her hands moved down to my chest as she kept the other softly on my neck. They too were soft and gentle, as if she thought I was a porcelain figure that needed care not to break. She traced a finger around my ear, making the experience all the more pleasurable until I felt my body fall on the bed. The lustrous woman climbed on top of me and resumed her assault.

My hands moved up and down conquering every inch off skin on her body. She was smooth, and free of hair. As I felt the warmth of her body bleed into mine, I worried that my hands were a bit too cold for her and pulled away – only for her to grab them and slap them forcefully onto her ass. I took it as permission to increase the pace and grabbed her rump with vigor. She pulled away slightly to release her seductive song, but left herself vulnerable. I took advantage of her position to take control of her chest. Her tits were round and had a bit of softness to them, but they were ripe with young firmness. I moved my mouth to one and began to kiss and caress the nipple, causing her to moan loudly with pleasure and hold my head to her chest even harder. With the other breast, I gently, yet with purpose, placed my index finger and my thumb on her nipple and tugged like a teething pup.

Her hips began to rotate on my pelvis, causing an uncomfortable sensation to rise in my full-grown length. I tried pulling away to focus on getting her hips higher onto my stomach, but she greedily forced me back in a type of order I just couldn't refuse. So, I settled for the middle-ground and flipped our positions so I was on top and she on bottom. I still continued my advance on her breasts, but my now-stagnant hand found new purpose in discovering her lower regions.

I swiped a single finger across the top of her slit, now soaked with juices, and – while still sucking on her melon – watched as her back arched and a loud moan erupted from her mouth. With the same finger, I began to circle around her clit and added two more to the mix as Nadira became accustomed to the feeling. When I saw her hands reach up to grab on the mattress above her head, I took the advantage to bring my head down her body and closer to the core of her ecstasy.

This time, she let me go and I found my mouth inches away from the sweet sight of her lower lips. My fingers continued to tease her sensitive spot, but it was time for me to enjoy the meal. Without a hint of hesitation, I brought forward my head and began to dig in to the nectar she provided. Like a bee to a flower, I lapped up the juices and enjoyed my presence there. My beard absorbed the excess and became soaked like a wet sponge.

It was so warm, and sweet like honey. There was no pubic hair getting in the way and the scent of her pussy sent me into a state of primal lust. I grabbed both of her legs and pushed my mouth further into her slit. I left no area untouched as my tongue tasted her walls like a savage glutton.

The longer I ate her out, the louder she screamed. Her legs then crossed over behind my head and she began to squeeze. The pain was nothing compared to the ensnaring appeal of her taste. As I stuck my tongue deep into her canal, I felt her legs increase the pressure on my head. I could no longer hear, but I knew she was getting close.

Without delay, I inserted two fingers into her slit and began to probe both my tongue and chin inside as well. All four went in and out repeatedly until I felt her walls tightening around my fingers and a hot liquid shooting out into my mouth. Her legs had tightened so much I thought that my head would pop, but as her climax died down, so did the energy in her legs.

I stood up with my face and my chest drenched in her juices. I looked at her exhausted body breathing heavily. Her arms were up at her sides and sweat glistened her forehead. I watched fervently as her chest rose and fell with her breathing. Her hips twitched every now and then with the aftershock of her orgasm and her legs were drained of all vitality. She looked so helpless, so vulnerable.

She looked me in the eye, nodded, and – with the rest of her energy – beckoned me with a curl of her fore finger to fulfill my own desire. There was no time to spare as I lined up my throbbing member with her soaked entrance. Without warning, I penetrated her easily. She was tight – oh God, she was tight. I had a difficult time trying not to cum then and there, but a few seconds thinking of Rose O'Donnell fixed the issue.

I thrust my hips in and out like pistons powering a large locomotive, and there was no stopping this train. I squeezed, groped, grabbed, spank, and pulled every inch of skin within reach as I fucked her. It wasn't long before Nadira began to moan again in bliss. She grabbed one of her tits in one hand while rubbing her clit with the other.

Growing tired of this position, I flipped her over on her stomach without taking myself out of the game. She knew thee drill and got to her knees, but I pulled on both her hands to keep her head in the mattress. My heart began to beat faster, and sweat started to form all over my body. Meanwhile, Nadira's screams continued to get louder and louder. I smacked her ass several times and became even more excited watching her tan skin turn red.

All of a sudden, I was kicked onto my back. When I looked up, the black-haired beauty was preparing to straddle me and I rushed my hand over to my rod to ease the process. I could tell that she had done this before. As a matter of fact, it was a no brainer that this wasn't her first time. Because, when I re-entered her, her hips moved in ways that were alien to me, yet I had never felt as stimulated as this. She moved in large circles and played with her tits as she rode me to kingdom come. I decided to join in the fun when she smacked my hands away and brought her lips onto my neck.

There, she began to lick and nibble on my earlobe as her movements changed from circles to back and forth. I could barely see her back arching as she pushed her body onto mine, but it was nonetheless erotic. I grabbed ahold of her back, positioned my legs, and began thrusting myself in and out of her at an alarming rate. I bit on her neck, an action that was rewarded with a pleasurable gasp. She looked me in the eyes and moved her mouth to the side of my head where she whispered something so unfamiliar, yet so horny that I couldn't help but be thrown over the edge.

I forcefully grabbed on to one of her tits and played with it violently – an act that she was surprisingly okay with. I began to move faster and faster in her until I heard her scream sweet honey into the air and her walls clamped around my length. I couldn't take the feeling any longer and climaxed into her, allowing her to milk the seed I spurted inside.

I felt as if a large weight was lifted off my chest as the sensation of our simultaneous orgasm filled our bodies – one more than the other. We sat in that position with her over me for several minutes, catching our breath and basking in the sunlight.

"That… was nice," I heard myself say. I felt her mumbling something into my chest, so I picked her head up and looked at her repeating the same thing.

 _"Lo… engrid,"_ she said between breaths. I chuckled and kissed her before gently laying her off to the side.

It was a fun experience, one I'm sure to remember and cherish in this hell of a world, but I had other problems. The largest of which was getting everyone out of whatever prison they were keeping them.

"First I have to ask Charles to help me."

* * *

"No," Charles denied straightforwardly. I sunk my head, but kept eye contact with him to see if he was joking. If the two shots he drank in a row was any indicator, he wasn't.

"You're not going to help them?" I asked with a hint of malice. It was bad enough that Charles was drinking this early in the morning, but for him to refuse to help Melanie…

"It's not that I don't want to, but it's a very bad idea to do it."

"How so? You're the only one who can translate and it's not like I'm going to break in and steal everyone," I said honestly.

"I know, that's probably your backup plan," he said while waving the bartender for another drink.

"It probably is- that's not the point!" I yelled, much louder than I intended. I looked around to find the treefolk staring at me. Soon enough, they began to mind their own business and so could I./

"Don't bullshit me, you care for Melanie. Victoria too," I reasoned with him.

"And what makes you say that?"

"The fact that when you and Melanie laid eyes on each other, the first thing you said was 'it's been thirty years,' that right?" I asked. He put a finger up to rebut, but I went on ahead, "Also, I overheard you and Victoria talking about me when I was passed out."

"What's wrong with me talking to a pokemon? I'm a _Guardian_ ," he tried to state like it was an obvious oversight.

"How about the fact that, when I still had my aura and could understand Victoria, I heard her talking and you understood what she was saying. You also called her dear," I stated. There was no way he could deny it. He would have to be the most idiotic, stubborn, and contradicting man I know.

He swallowed the rest of his mug, payed up front, and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on!" I exclaimed. "Are you really just going to pretend that I don't see something you know is there?" He began to walk away when I grabbed his hand and pulled.

He looked at me with deathly eyes and said, "Don't forget, I'm the one with power over you-" I spat in his face before he could finish and gave him a good right cross.

" _You_ don't forget that I don't give a fuck who's more powerful than I am. Since when did you become such a coward. Aren't you a soldier? A _warrior_? How are you supposed to be a _guardian_ if you aren't able to guard the things you care about?" He stared at me with twitching eyes before he considered the attention the two of us were getting inside the bar.

"Let's take this somewhere private."

[…]

The two of us stood behind the bar with cigarettes in hand. Charles took a drag before beginning his short story.

"First of all, I know Melanie because she had once frequented the Guardian villages a long time ago. We became friends as I grew up and I shared with her the adventures of my days – the growth of my abilities, past girlfriends, etcetera.

When the Latias and Latios started to be hunted down, I-"

"Wait, they were hunted down?" I asked worriedly. I often wondered why Melanie, of all the pokemon I knew, was more cautious.

 _{'You think I had the perfect life? Is that what this is about?'}_ I remember her telling me yesterday.

"You don't know this?" Charles asked with a smoky breath.

"I didn't grow up in this world," I reminded him bluntly.

"Well that's another story for another time. You could ask Melanie yourself. Anyway, when they started to be hunted, Melanie stopped visiting and I never saw her again until a few days ago.

Victoria was the family pet. She guarded us and played with me until I went off and joined the army ten years after Melanie left. When I had Nadine after my enlistment, my father often visited along with Victoria and let the two play together. Both grew together with a bond that couldn't be broken."

"So… Arn's your father?" I asked. It would only make sense, seeing that the two were so comfortable around each other.

"Yes. I take it that's where you received Victoria. Anyway, Nadine and Victoria had a bond, but it wasn't an aura bond. You see, Nadine wasn't born with the gift of Aura. She's what the guardian community refers to as a 'Mourn'."

 _'So that's how she knew what I was back then… even if I didn't pay attention to it.'_

"Anyway, that's enough about those three. I won't do this mission because, and I'll be honest, I'm _afraid._ I've already lost a platoon because of my intervention. I won't lose anyone else."

I wanted to smack him. I wanted to take the rest of his cigarette and put it out in his eyes that were already blind.

"That's _exactly_ how you'll lose them – by not doing anything. We still must try, and if we fail, we try again. That's how humans work. We try and try again until we find a method that brings a good solution." Charles smoked the rest of his cigarette and burned the butt in a flame of aura which I casually threw mine into as well.

"I just need you to translate for me," I reasoned. He stared at me with cold eyes, eyes I've seen before. Eyes that said, 'know your place,' but I knew my place. It was helping Melanie and the others escape.

"I wish you could see yourself through another's aura. You're so stupid," he said while spitting at his feet, "but you're also courageous. I can see your army did good things for you."

"If they did I wouldn't be here. So, you gonna do it?" I asked once more for confirmation. Charles only nodded and signaled me to follow him.

[…]

I was taken to a large building that resembled a piece of government property or a place of historical importance. The two of us entered through the doors and immediately, I knew where we were. It was an animal shelter. Only instead of animals, they were all pokemon. And instead of shelter, it was a prison for death row inmates. The place reeked of feces and wet dog. Almost instantly, I found all of my friends in a single cell.

Charles told me to go to them while he dealt with the man at the desk. As I walked through the area, I looked around at the different cells and the pokemon they held. One held a Manectric wearing a collar that seemingly disabled its ability to generate electricity. Another held a what appeared to be a wooden figure. I shuddered when I realized, from looking at the nose and feet, that it was a Shiftry with its hair shaved and its leaves torn off.

Another was a cell full of Poochyena all trying to kill each other. There was no effort in removing them nor was there any attention placed on their behavior. I felt disheartened, what world would do something like this?

I shuddered once again and dropped my head when I realized that my world would do the exact same thing. I heard a familiar yip and rattling coming from Melanie's cage. Everyone inside looked at me and walked towards the cage. All except Riolu and Melanie. Riolu was just being the mutt he is, but Melanie was out cold on the floor.

"Melanie!" I called out to her, the cry echoing throughout the building. I was unheeded by her, and I question the reason for such an event. Of course, a possibility came clear to me when I looked around the room: dark-types. With the shiftry and poochyena around, along with Victoria, their combined dark energy may have rubbed off on Melanie's psychic power and forced her to unconsciousness.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. I had questions to ask her - one considering how I lost my abilities, and she was the only one, aside from Charles, that could understand me. Seeing that she was out for the count at the moment, I decided to console with the others.

I took a knee down by the cage and stuck my hands through to pet Chance and Victoria. "Can you guys understand me?" I asked. However, I only received blank stares from all of them – a sure sign that I was still stuck in a self-dug hole. I pounded the ground with a curled fist, an action that was sure to bruise me later. I could say that I was frustrated, but that would be ignoring the source of the problem. In all actuality, I was angry; angry at myself. If I hadn't gone and bitch about my problems, we wouldn't be in this mess. If I hadn't refused Melanie's help, I would already be halfway across Hoenn by now.

I shook my head and slapped myself; I was feeling doubt once again. Doubt, like a parasite, sowed itself deep in my head long ago and its growth is finally beginning to show like a bamboo shoot.

However, that analogy gave me an idea: a _parasite_. I began to wonder if these depressed feelings were even mine in the first place. It made sense that whenever I was around Melanie, I would begin to feel some sort of doubt or negative emotion.

Could it be that I was being possessed?

I felt a wet object scraping the back of my hand and I looked up. Victoria was licking me until we made eye contact, in which case she stopped and raised her head. She then bowed with her horn oriented away from me.

A sign of permission? I took it as such and began stroking her fur. It was a little ruff and scraggy from her brief time in this prison, but it was just as soft as the first time I had felt it. The feeling brought a smile to my face, and Chance decided to join in the fun. I laughed and began to pet him as well before I looked over at Mark who seemed to be having a detailed chat with the mutt… Riolu.

Ever since I picked Victoria and Mark up, I wondered if they would get along with Chance and Riolu should they ever meet.

"Michael," Charles called over. I turned my head and felt aa tinge off disappointment when I noticed him shaking his. "It won't be any good getting them out ourselves."

"Am I sensing an exception to that statement?" I asked expectantly.

"We would have to attain permission and a document strictly from the mayor himself. I'm afraid a soldier's bonus won't do us any good here," he said with a downcast head.

"Those never do any good," I remarked after turning back to the group of Pokemon that were waiting for me. "Well, if that's what it's gonna take…"

"Wait, you don't mean…" Charles trailed off.

"Yep," I confirmed, "We're seeing the fucking mayor!"

* * *

[ **Translated by Charles]**

 **"You can't see the mayor,"** the security guard outside of this town's City Hall stated bluntly.

"Well," Charles began, "Thank you for your time and consideration."

He began to walk away when a grabbed onto his collar and said, "Not so fast Chuck! _They're_ still waiting for us," I said referencing our captive mates.

 **"My answer remains unchanged,"** the guard stated firmly yet again.

"Well, I have urgent business from Sootopolis," I said boldly, "The Chieftain demands it." In a swift turn of stature, I watched the security change from looking like John Cena, to Michael Cera.

 **"Give… m-me a m-m-moment,"** he stuttered before stumbling into the mayor's office. I turned to Charles giving him a confused look. He looked at me in a way that said, 'another story for another time,' as he shook his head.

 **"You may enter,"** the security guard said from the inside.

"Finally!" I exclaimed and walked into the office. It was roomy. The entire room was crafted from wood – from the walls, to the floorboard, to the furniture. Even the chandeliers hanging off the walls were wooden. The place reeked of moldy potatoes, cigar smoke, and alcohol. Books adorned the shelves with dull colors making the only thing in the room to stand out was the mayor's utterly ridiculous suit.

If you could have seen this guy's green tuxedo, you would've guessed that he took his inspiration from Dumb and Dumber. And purple hair beyond even that.

 **"Welcome boys!"** he said with a flamboyant tone – something I was going to get tired of real quick.

"What's his name?" I whispered nervously.

"You didn't read the _sign?!_ " He snapped back at the same volume.

 **"Boys,"** the strange man asked, **"Can I help you?"**

"Uh… yes Mr…"

 **"Kanemaru,"** he finished for me.

"Right… Mr. Kanemaru, I need to ask if you can let my friends go please. They mean a lot to me and I know for a fact that they did nothing wrong," I reasoned. Kanemaru nodded and smiled.

 **"Oh sure thing honey…"**

 _Goddammit._

 **"It's always lovely to see good ffriends take care of each other. So what are their names?"** he asked as he pulled out a clipboard from seemingly nowhere.

"Oh, it's Victoria, Melanie, Chance, Mark… and uh…"

 **"I'm sorry, honey, but I don't see their names on the list. Could you describe them to me and we could walk down to the police station together?"**

"What?" I questioned without understanding the confusion happening. "Oh no, they're not… people. They're-"

 **"Chimera's,"** He said with eerie tone. I gulped and nodded feeling the tension in the room shift to the feeling of several thousand pins just centimeters from my neck.

He sighed, **"I'm sorry, honey-"**

"Please don't call me that-"

 **"But there's nothing I can do. And I thought you said you had business from Sootopolis?"**

Well, if the previous method wouldn't work, this one had to. I stood up and stood at attention before stating my true reason for even being in this shitty treehouse of a town.

"Mr. Kanemaru," I said boldly, "I'm here to challenge you in a duel of…" I hesitated to say the word. I knew that it meant nothing to me, but if Melanie were to catch me saying it of my own volition…

 **"Chimera's?"** Kanemaru finished for me again. This time, his voice dropped to a low tone akin to a man with high levels of testosterone. I nodded bravely while also chanting 'shit' to myself repeatedly as this man-thing or whatever took his sweet time to answer.

Finally, he took in a deep breath and pressed the button on his intercom.

 **"Attention Fortree, we have a special guest visiting on behalf of Sootopolis to participate in the duels this weekend. I encourage all residents to attend and cheer on your home-city."**

I looked at him dumbfounded. I thought this whole thing would be in private, but as my luck goes…

"So you'll do it?" I asked with wide eyes.

 **"I can't turn down a challenge, sweety,"** he said reverting back to his flamboyancy. I cringed and went to ask him one more thing, but he seemed to already know.

 **"Should you win, I'll release your chimeras and you all can go on your merry way; however, should you lose, and you will become my personal assistant for the next two years. You can only fight with two chimeras; should you break this rule, you will be forfeited and executed for breaking a law regarding chimeras. Now sign this,"** he said while throwing a few papers and a pen my direction. I was still dumbfounded by his bet, but if it was the only way of getting my friends out…

I signed the paper and bit my cheek as I handed it back to him. I felt his hand swipe against mine and I swear to God I never cringed and shrieked like I just had.

 **"See you on Monday. Wear something presentable,"** he said with a smile before ringing a bell. As we exited the office, Charles looked at me worriedly.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I've already hurled last night into the toilet this morning, Charles. I don't need to do the same with breakfast."

I had to win, or else that Machamp wouldn't be the worst thing I dealt with here.

* * *

 **a/n: So yeah... a few things happened. All the pokemon are in jail, Michael issues his first challenge, and we get a bit of backstory for some characters. Aaaaand the lemon too... that happened as well. Does that mean those two are in a relationship? Who knows.**

 **Next chapter you can expect a bit of training and some information on what the hell is going on with Michael.**

 **So without further ado, I bid you... adieu.**


End file.
